10217

Lessons Learned from CTLB

• Community/Partnership• Organizations• Volunteers• Caregivers

Community/Partnership Lessons

• Grassroots effort creates a sense of ownership, commitment to sustainability

• Success defined in a new way: creation of a stable network to support informal service providers

• Decentralized structure made it difficult to implement Legacy Corps, secure match funding

Organizational Level Lessons

• Organizational history, culture, structure, capacity, etc., impact program size, shape, potential for success

• Education needed so all understand caregiving and value of the program

• Important to balance accountability with flexibility to keep organizations engaged

Volunteer Lessons• Volunteer succession difficult, despite

requiring two leaders • Health, family, economic difficulties

pose challenges but highlight passion and perseverance

• Stipends a necessity in low-income area

• Creativity needed to engage volunteers in extensive outreach and evaluation

Caregiver Lessons• Even volunteers from the same church

needed to be creative and persistent for caregivers to accept their help

• Caregivers in this area traditionally ask for “practical” help—respite, transportation, meals, etc.

• But CTLB caregivers now describe education and support groups as most valuable

Over the past 37 years, AgeOptions has establisheda national reputation for meeting the needs, wants and expectations of older adultsin suburban Cook County.We are recognized as a leaderin developing and helping todeliver innovative community-based resources and optionsto the evolving, diversecommunities we serve.

1048 Lake Street, Suite 300 phone (800)699-9043 Fax (708)524-0870Oak Park, Illinois 60301-1102 (708)383-0258 TTY (708)524-1653ageoptions.org

A caregiver and her dadLegacy Corps volunteers

P R E S E N TAT I O N T O T H E H A R RY & J E A N E TT E W E I N B E R G F O U N D AT I O N

A M E R I C A N S O C I E T Y O N A G I N G C O N F E R E N C EWA S H I N G T O N, D. C .

M A R C H 2 8 , 2 0 1 2

CaregiverCentral.orgA program of Share the Care, Inc.

Orlando, FL

Presenters:Susan Dorries, Project Director

Annette Kelly, PhD, Research DirectorFunded by the Harry & Jeannette Weinberg Foundation

10260

In the Beginning…

We wanted to know if we could contribute to the lives of caregivers through an online caregiver assessment tool.

Will family caregivers even use an online self-assessment?

Who are the caregivers in our community who are not currently accessing services?

Will an online self-assessment reach a diverse group of caregivers?

Will the menu of services generated by the online self-assessment have value to the community? To service providers?

Our Fundamental Question:Will Family Caregivers use an Online

Tool?

THE ANSWER?

YES! Family Caregivers will use an online assessment tool.

More than 7,500 visits to CaregiverCentral.org to date

506 caregivers completed online caregiver assessments

Who are the Caregivers using CaregiverCentral.org?

Of the 503 caregivers who completed the online assessment…

Average caregiver age = 54.2

82.4% female

Caregiver age ranged between 18 to 88 years

67% White, 14.7% Black, 13.2% Hispanic

47% are daughters, 19% are spouses

64.9% of caregivers are married

35.9% earn under $30K, 31.5% ($30K-60K), and 32% ($60K+)

70.4% of caregivers provide daily care, and 69.8% of caregivers use no

paid help

* Majority experience high to very high levels of Burden, Risk and Depression.

Have Caregivers Already Accessed Services?

CaregiverCentral.org reaches caregivers that are outside of the traditional community service network…

77 % were unfamiliar with existing resources

81 % were not currently receiving any help

These statistics support the hypothesis that caregivers are self-identifying themselves as caregivers earlier in the continuum as a result of accessing CaregiverCentral.org.

Caregiver Quality of LifeDirect Resource Assistance for Caregivers

In post intervention follow-up, caregivers demonstrated improved overall quality of life as indicated by statistically significant reduction of:

Caregiver stress

Caregiver risk

Caregiver burden

CaregiverCentral.org provided direct community resource information to individual caregivers on their self-identified:

Top care needs: Respite Care Home Care

Top task needs: Shopping and Meal Provision Transportation

Most frequent care concerns: Memory loss Falling or almost falling Feeling down or blue

Contribution to Caregivers & Community?

Central Florida Switzerland

Contributions, cont’d

• Future Replication & Sustainability: Currently working with another national foundation to build upon

the work the Weinberg Foundation had made possible; Currently developing a beta site in Sarasota, FL

• A Local Model with Potential for Broad Impact: In the past 45 days alone, CaregiverCentral.org has been visited by users from:

48 Cities in Florida 24 States across the Nation, and; 3 countries outside the U.S.

CaregiverCentral.org: A Replicable Model for Serving Family Caregivers

Thank you!

Caregiver Initiative Gathering

2012Wednesday, March 28, 2012 LeadingAge, Washington, DC