The CAREWELL project receives Value In Action Award
Tuesday, 27 May, 2025
Congratulations to Dr Attracta Lafferty, Principal Investigator of the CAREWELL project, who alongside her colleagues, Prof Thilo Kroll, Emeritus Professor Gerard Fealy and PhD Candidate Cielo Diez Grajales, as well as colleagues from UCD School of Business and Dublin City University, received a Value in Action Award. At an awards ceremony in UCD on Friday 16th May, the CAREWELL team were presented with the award by Prof. Orla Fealy, UCD President, in recognition of the team’s commitment to raising awareness of UCD employees who balance their work with caring for a family member who has a disability, chronic illness or who is ageing.
The team were nominated by family carer, Jocelyn O’Shea, UCD Global, who stated that
“the efforts of the team have gone above and beyond their responsibilities as researchers, actively fostering inclusion and a sense of community amongst employees navigating the challenges of work and caregiving.”
Alongside their research, the CAREWELL team have introduced a range of initiatives including coffee mornings, lunchtime information sessions and seminar days in UCD and have also championed an ‘8-week CAREWELL wellbeing programme’, co-designed with UCD employees who are family carers. The team also created two awareness-raising animation videos, the first is for line-managers and includes real life-based caregiving scenarios and offers guidance on how line-managers can support employees and the second video, called ‘A day in the life of a working family carer’ illustrates the realities of juggling work and care. Additionally, the team have produced a CAREWELL Conversations podcast series (available on WorkVivo), bringing together employers, HR professionals, employee representatives, academics and family carers. These podcasts raise awareness of the unique challenges faced by working carers while exploring strategies to create a more inclusive and supportive workplace.
The CAREWELL project was a collaboration between UCD, DCU and Family Carers Ireland and was funded by the Health Research Board.
CAREWELL Team members:
Dr Attracta Lafferty, Principal Investigator, School of Nursing, Midwifery & Health Systems
Prof Thilo Kroll, School of Nursing, Midwifery & Health Systems
Prof Gerard Fealy, School of Nursing, Midwifery & Health Systems
Ms Cielo Diez Grajales (PhD candidate), School of Nursing, Midwifery & Health Systems
Dr Gillian Paul, DCU School of Nursing, Psychotherapy and Community Health
Dr Majella Fahy, College of Business
Dr Linda Dowling-Hetherington, College of Business
Dr Nikki Dunne, Family Carers Ireland