CHRONIC CARE

Caregivers

We are focused on new opportunities to support and strengthen the skills, knowledge, and confidence of America’s millions of family caregivers who are instrumental in helping seniors successfully age in place.

The Opportunity

In today’s healthcare climate, unpaid family caregivers are increasingly being expected to provide complex care for their loved ones with little to no training and often while working full-time. These tasks include coordination of health care and social services, medication management and administration, personal care and hygiene,  wound care, managing disease-related symptoms, and monitoring medical equipment such as feeding tubes and intravenous infusions. Women are disproportionally affected as much of the burden of family caregiving falls to them for both their children and older loved ones. Caregivers often turn when feeling overburdened or fatigued. Unfortunately, today’s health system is ill-prepared to address the educational, emotional and supportive needs of caregivers and their care recipients. According to a 2015 survey conducted by the National Alliance for Caregiving and AARP, only 1/3 of caregivers reported that a health care provider asked them about their needs when caring for their loved one, and even fewer reported (16%) a health care provider had conversations about caregiver self-care. With many family caregivers facing the challenges of their own aging, it is imperative to identify and advance more comprehensive, cross-disciplinary caregiver support solutions—that address the needs of both caregivers and recipients of care.

Our Goal

In an effort to address gaps in support for family caregivers, we are collaborating with the Center to Advance Palliative Care (Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai) to develop training modules and an operational toolkit for health care providers that identify, address and support family caregivers of individuals with dementia.

Caregivers News


January 28, 2019

d.health Summit 2019

The University of Rochester, in collaboration with West Health, is hosting the 5th annual d.health Summit, a national forum for health and technology leaders, entrepreneurs, senior care advocates and policymakers to exchange ideas, create new relationships, and foster disruptive technological and process innovations to improve the lives of the nation’s aging population. Join us on Wednesday, June 11, 2019 at the State Room, 60 State Street, Boston.
Read the West Health/NORC survey on healthcare costs, coverage and policy
Health Affairs Blog describes the research that guided course development, highlight the caregivers' perspective on the challenges they face
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Mount Sinai Health System

The Mount Sinai Health System is an integrated health care system providing exceptional medical care to our local and global communities.

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