The main aim of this INTERLINKS report is to provide an overview of developments in policies targeting informal carers and the extent of their implementation as supporting measures in the participant countries. We have focused mainly on existing or emerging links between the informal and formal care sectors, on the balance set between working and caring and on policies and 'good practices' for the effective support of informal carers in performing their caring tasks. We have also tried to identify the main gaps between these policies and their related programs, especially regarding how they connect with overall long-term care (LTC) policies and practices at macro (governance and finance), meso (provision and organisation) and micro (delivery) levels.

The role of informal carers is examined within LTC systems and the connected health and social care sectors; in particular we look at the extent to which informal care has been recognised and acknowledged as a consistent and constant linking element of the long-term care process, as reflected in policies constructed to ensure the continued contribution of informal carers together with that of formal services. The report therefore addresses the issue of how to achieve a 'hand-in-hand' approach between all care providers towards the provision of good LTC for older people, in all long-term care settings and whatever the present status of LTC in the different European countries. Whilst recognising the limitations of the terms 'informal' and 'formal' carers, we have retained these terms in this report as a necessary distinction between care provided by the informal and formal care sectors, despite the blurring of boundaries between the two. The definitions of these terms are examined further in Section 3.