Every day, thousands of people across Scotland provide unpaid care for someone affected by alcohol or drug problems. Their work is often invisible, emotionally and physically demanding, and rarely recognised. Yet it has a profound impact on families, communities, and public health.
Substance use remains a serious challenge in Scotland. In 2024, 1 in 5 adults reported hazardous or harmful levels of alcohol use, while around 43,000 adults aged 15–64 were dependent on opioids. Tragically, that same year saw 1,185 alcohol-specific deaths and 1,017 drug-related deaths. Proportionally, this makes Scotland the worst affected country in Europe.
These numbers capture the direct harm caused by alcohol and drugs, but they don’t show the ripple effects on families and communities. Behind each statistic are unpaid carers whose lives are shaped by the challenges, struggles, and heartbreak of supporting someone affected by substance use.
Falling between the cracks?
Scotland is home to roughly 800,000 unpaid carers, whose contributions save the economy over £15 billion every year. While only a small proportion, about 4% based on survey data, provide care for someone affected by alcohol or drugs, there is a good chance for their experiences being overlooked. This means policymakers and service providers may not fully understand their unique needs. That’s why the UWS-Oxfam Partnership is undertaking a new research project – to listen to unpaid carers of people affected by alcohol and drugs.
This project brings together unpaid carers, researchers, and organisations including Scottish Families Affected by Alcohol and Drugs and Carers Trust Scotland. Through interviews across Scotland, the project explores not just the challenges these carers face, but also the support they currently receive — and the support that would make the biggest difference in their lives.
The project is funded by the UWS-Oxfam Partnership following an open funding call which sought applications from civil society organisations or groups working with communities that are marginalised or under-represented in policy-making and decision-making in Scotland.
Why this matters
By listening to carers we hope to go beyond the statistics and understand the wider societal impact of substance use. Their insights will highlight what carers need, empower them to share their stories, and inform policies and services that better recognise their contribution.
Dr April Shaw, Lecturer and Programme Leader for MSc Contemporary Drug and Alcohol Studies at UWS, explains: “UWS has a strong record of substance use research and teaching. This project brings that together with the expertise of CTS and SFAD. By amplifying the voices of unpaid carers, we hope to raise awareness, empower carers, and influence local and national policy. We want to identify opportunities for interventions, improve support and reduce stigma for those providing unpaid care for someone who uses alcohol or other drugs.”
Campbell MacPherson, Research Officer at Carers Trust Scotland, adds: “This research is crucial to deepening our understanding of the unique experiences and challenges faced by those caring for someone affected by alcohol and drugs in Scotland. Listening to unpaid carers is key to identifying the support and services that truly matter to them, ensuring their voices are heard and their experiences recognised.”
Marianna Marquardt, Policy and Research Officer at SFAD, says: “Through this work, we want to raise awareness of what caring for someone using substances can look like. We also want to understand what needs to change so that more unpaid carers know their rights, feel valued, and can access support in their own right, when they need it. Listening to unpaid carers’ experiences is vital to effecting change that is meaningful to them, and this research is an opportunity for their recommendations to influence support and meaningful policy change in Scotland.”
This project hopes to ensure unpaid carers are seen, supported and heard, and it hopes that Scotland’s response to substance use better recognises the people who care for others every single day.