Ironic to include alternative care (5)
I believe the answer is:
worry
'care' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'ironic to include alternative' is the wordplay.
'ironic' becomes 'wry' ('wry' can be a synonym of 'ironic').
'to include' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'alternative' becomes 'or'.
'wry' placed around 'or' is 'WORRY'.
(Other definitions for worry that I've seen before include "Concern, anxiety, uneasiness" , "(Feel) anxiety" , "'Anxiety, uneasiness (5)'" , "Bother" , "Harry" .)