Caring for the Caregivers

Brazil’s population has been ageing rapidly over the past 16 years, generating growing demand for appropriate long‑term care. Despite this demographic shift, the caregiving profession remains largely unrecognized and poorly organized within Brazilian society, creating a mismatch between rising care needs and labor protections. 

As a result, caregiving is marked by persistently precarious working conditions. Informality among caregivers remains widespread: 79% lack of formal employment contracts. Although caregivers tend to have, on average, higher levels of education, they typically earn low wages and work long hours, reinforcing their economic vulnerability. 

Launched in 2011, with the support of Danone Ecosystem, the Observatory of Human Longevity and Ageing and Nutricia Brazil, the “Caring for the Caregivers” project was co‑created to improve recognition and employability for caregivers through professional training and by offering a professional association that provides legal, medical, and socio‑cultural advice. 

Since its launch, the project has empowered caregivers by training them in the specificities of home care and in the role of adapted nutrition in cancer recovery. It has also contributed to transforming Brazil’s health‑care system by highlighting the importance of home care and by raising awareness among government actors and insurance companies of its medical and economic relevance. 

The project was handed over in 2016.