Abstract

There are an estimated 44 million informal caregivers in the United States who are at risk of developing chronic mental and physical health conditions because they lack the needed skills to fulfill their roles. As people are living longer, and many are living alone the number of older adults requiring caregiver assistance is growing exponentially. Only one-third of caregivers report that physicians and/or other healthcare providers inquire about their needs or assess their ability to provide care, thereby leaving them lacking needed information to effectively perform the roles and responsibilities required of caregiving. Moving away from a medical model paradigm, CarePLaCe is an innovative community-based, multidisciplinary care coordination program, developed and led by occupational therapists, to address the unmet needs of caregivers and their older adult care recipients. The program provides caregivers with an individualized plan of care, targeted education and skills training modules, connection to community resources, and a home-based assessment. Provided with needed skills, education, and connected with community resources, caregivers are empowered to more effectively conduct their roles and responsibilities, resulting in an improved quality of life for both the caregiver and the care recipient. We share details about the structure and program elements of CarePLaCe, and how the program is implemented. We also discuss preliminary outcome data on the program’s effectiveness in improving caregiver knowledge and skills and reducing caregiver stress, caregiver perspectives of program effectiveness, and lessons learned in program implementation effectiveness and efficiency.

Presenters

Brandi L Buchanan
Occupational Therapist & Program Researcher, Center for Resilience in Aging, AT Still University

Lori Reynolds
Associate Researcher, Center for Resilience in Aging, A.T. Still University, Arizona, United States

Elton Bordenave
Director, Associate Professor, Center for Resilience in Aging at AT Still Univ

Details

Presentation Type

Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

Theme

Social and Cultural Perspectives on Aging

KEYWORDS

Caregiver, Care Recipient, Caregiving, Burden of Care, Community-Based Care Coordination

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