2016: caregivers are part of the team - o'connell
TRANSCRIPT
CAREGIVERS ARE PART OF THE TEAM
Shawne O’Connell, MSWProgram Manager
San Ysidro Health CenterResearch & Health Promotion
Learning Objectives:• Discuss the roles and responsibilities of caregiving
• Discuss how to communicate effectively with caregivers
Who Are Caregivers?Caregivers (or informal caregivers) are unpaid family members, friends, or neighbors that assist with activities of daily living and/or medical tasks.
• States with the most caregivers: California 4,450,000 Texas 3,350,000 Florida 2,670,000
• About 34.2 million Americans have provided unpaid care to an adult age 50 or older in the last 12 months.
• 15.7 million adult caregivers care for someone who has Alzheimer's disease or other dementia.
Alzheimer’s Association, 2016
Caregivers Have Many Roles.
• Care provider
• Care coordinator
• Information source
• Advocate
• Smoke detector
Alzheimer’s Association, 2016
Caregivers Have Many Responsibilities.
Assistance with ADL/IADLs
Researching services or information on disease
Coordinate doctors visits
Manage finances
Communicating with providers and making
complex medical decisions
National Alliance for Caregiving and AARP, 2015
Caregivers as Part of the Team
• Partnerships with patients and caregivers are key to
managing chronic conditions
• Caregivers are your “inside man”
• Teamwork makes the dream work – but it isn’t always
that simple!
Communicating Effectively with Caregivers• Discuss caregiver expectations about response times to
queries
• Agree in advance on how much can be addressed in a single office visit
• Discuss role of other staff in your office/on the team (e.g., social workers)
• Communicate, communicate, communicate…
Communicating Effectively cont.
• Active Listening Listen & Respond
• Respect Opinions & Observations
• Teaching Instruct & Confirm
• Teaming Trust & Availability
Conclusions•Appreciate the level and complexity of care that many caregivers provide
•Communicate effectively with caregivers
•Actively involve caregivers in care planning, and support them in their roles and responsibilities
Resources for Caregivers• Southern Caregiver Resource Center http://caregivercenter.org/
• Alzheimer’s San Diego http://www.alzsd.org/
• San Diego County AIS http://www.sandiegocounty.gov/content/sdc/hhsa/programs/ais.html
• Caregiver Coalition of San Diego http://www.caregivercoalitionsd.org/
• National Alliance for Caregiving http://www.caregiving.org/resources/for-professionals/
References• Alzheimer's Association. (2016). 2016 Alzheimer's disease facts and
figures. Available: http://www.alz.org/documents_custom/2016-facts-and-figures.pdf. Accessed August 17, 2016.
• Mitnick, S., Leffler, C., Hood, V. L., & for the American College of Physicians Ethics, Professionalism and Human Rights Committee. (2010). Family Caregivers, Patients and Physicians: Ethical Guidance to Optimize Relationships. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 25(3), 255–260. http://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-009-1206-3
• National Alliance for Caregiving and AARP. (2015). Caregiving in the U.S.. Available: http://www.aarp.org/content/dam/aarp/ppi/2015/caregiving-in-the-united-states-2015-report-revised.pdf. Accessed August 17, 2016.