Prevention has never been more important. As our population ages and health inequalities deepen, supporting people earlier and more effectively is essential.
This is not only about improving individual outcomes, but also about safeguarding the sustainability of our health and care systems. While treatment remains vital, the future of healthcare depends on helping people stay well for longer, wherever they are.
The NHS's 10-Year Plan commits to a shift from a reactive model to one that anticipates need, empowers individuals, and reduces long-term demand on acute services. This is a significant cultural change. And at the heart of it, often unseen, are Carents: adult children playing a critical role in their parents' preventive care.
Preventative healthcare involves lifestyle changes, regular screenings, vaccinations, early detection of conditions and effective management of ongoing long term conditions, and managing risk factors such as falls, depression and hearing loss. While the NHS is expanding its capacity in these areas, much of the day-to-day encouragement and observation still happens in the home.
Carents are often the first to notice if mum is skipping meals, if dad’s memory is slipping, or if appointments are being forgotten. They manage daily routines, arrange outings, suggest dietary adjustments, and help interpret early health symptoms and provide first aid. Without their involvement, many preventive strategies risk becoming theoretical.
Older adults with frailty or multimorbidity are particularly vulnerable to avoidable hospital admissions. Sensory impairments such as hearing or vision loss are often overlooked risk factors for dementia, depression, and falls yet carents are often the first to notice these subtle changes. Carents also play a vital role in identifying and modifying key risk factors for avoidable hospital admissions such as medication management, where problems contribute to around 7% of avoidable admissions, and in identifying malnutrition, dehydration, and home safety risks.
Carents' Contribution
Prevention is at the heart of why Carents was created: to prevent avoidable suffering among carers and the people they care for. Our platform is a practical, evolving resource for those navigating the complex, daily reality of care. Here's how we help:
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Curated Knowledge Library: Our "bookcase" of content includes healthcare guides to help manage long term conditions, preventing complications and improving outcomes, as well as guides on dehydration, malnutrition, falls prevention, CO risks, and more.
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Tailored Toolkits & eBooks: Including our emergency care toolkit and COPD guides, enabling carers to respond early and appropriately.
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Self-Care & Health Education: Timely, personalised information delivered through our website and across social media.
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Product Guidance: Recommendations on practical aids like pill dispensers, fall alarms, and sensory tools to keep older adults safe and independent.
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Partnerships with GDNs: Working to tackle cold homes, promote carbon monoxide safety, and help households register for support services like the PSR.
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Supporting Emotional Wellbeing: Loneliness and depression are as serious as physical health issues. We champion talking therapies, emotional resilience, and peer-to-peer support.
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Financial & Employment Advice: Helping working Carents balance responsibilities, stay in work, and find guidance on EEAs and benefits.
Our prevention content isn't just informative; it's structured to work in both push and pull models of engagement, as well as being truly co-created, developed and structured to work, alongside our community of carents. It is relevant, timely, and above all, empathetic.
It’s not just those being looked after that we support. We also support the Carents. Preventing burnout, loneliness and poor health outcomes that are all too common among unpaid carers. Carents face increased risks of depression, anxiety, physical strain and long-term illness as a result of their caring role, often while juggling jobs, families and their own ageing. By offering targeted support, we encourage Carents to prioritise their own physical and emotional wellbeing, not just in moments of crisis but as part of a sustained approach to healthy ageing. This includes promoting self-care, peer support, and access to practical tools and education that help them stay well, stay informed, and stay connected.
The shift to prevention is essential for the NHS's sustainability. By partnering with the people who know patients best, we can make that shift real and lasting. Carents is proud to support a generation of carers who are not only responding to illness but actively preventing it. Our growing platform exists to address the health literacy gaps, tackle inequalities, and ensure both Carents and their parents live healthier, more independent lives. Because Carents are ageing too—and prevention starts with them as well.
