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Background: Eurocarers is an European non-profit association representing informal carers. It was officially established in 2006 and includes user organisations, research institutions and individual members addressing and working on the issue of informal care. Eurocarers participates in the work package 3 (WP3) of the INNOVAGE project, aiming to develop and disseminate a multilingual web platform for informal carers in 27 Member States of the European Union (EU). Methods: A wide networking activity was carried out in 2013-2014 for identifying and involving at least one user organisation in each country of the EU-27, which could take over responsibility of single national versions of the platform. 29 carers organisations were involved in implementation, as well as in developing country-based contents for the information resources area. Results: Information resource area will be implemented in the EU-27 in all official languages and updated progressively by organisations. Each organisation will implement a set of interactive services, depending on country peculiarities and available resources. A further dissemination phase will follow, based on a multilayered approach: one EU event will take place in 2015, followed by national events and other local activities. Conclusions: A fundamental role in the development and dissemination of web-based support services for carers is played by the activation of a strong and comprehensive network of organisations. Characteristics of the internet have the potential to strengthen collaboration between stakeholders and converge efforts for improving level of support services in countries with less cultural, social and policy recognition of carers’ role in the society.

Informal care is a hot topic in research and policy agendas at European and national level, since it greatly contributes to the sustainability and efficiency of national health care systems. A specific intervention – part of the wider INNOVAGE project funded by FP7 – was planned for developing and testing a new multilingual web platform for informal carers of dependent older people in the EU-27. Preliminary results of the pilot study, conducted in Italy, Germany and Sweden will be discussed. The final platform will be accessible in all official languages of the EU-27 and publicly available in spring 2015.

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