Caring for Caregivers Within Age-Friendly Health Systems: An Organizational Case Study of National Scale and Spread.

Abstract

The bulk of care for older adults who need assistance but do not require hospitalization or skilled nursing care typically falls to families and friends due to the lack of comprehensive long-term care services for older adults in the United States. To assist with the needs of these key members of the care team who are not typically included in the electronic medical record of the older adult, and to provide them with the care they need to live healthy lives of their own while providing care for an older adult, Caring for Caregivers (C4C) was created by RUSH University System for Health. The goal of the model is to provide information and support for family caregivers due to the extraordinary level of stress they experience, and to do this within a structure that gathers data and addresses the lack of research on caregivers for older adults within health systems. This case study demonstrates the benefits of a customizable model that focuses on What Matters to the caregiver and the care recipient, while adapting to the needs of the staff, the health system, and the community.