Vanderbilt Home Care

Vanderbilt Home Care is pleased to announce that an application for a grant provided by the Vanderbilt Medical Center Staff Advisory Council has just been awarded to the agency for funding of a project to focus on the development of caregiver assessments.

Family caregivers add substantial value to the health care system. With current public policies shifting the focus of care from institutional to community settings, family caregivers are more often expected to provide care that has traditionally been given by professional/trained staff, ranging from emotional support and dressing changes to pain management.

It can be highly stressful work putting family caregivers at risk for depression and anxiety, as well as causing financial problems. Helping family caregivers to maintain their own well-being is essential for care recipients, as well. Family caregiver well-being has been shown to affect care recipients rates of functional decline, institutionalization, even death.

Patient-family centered care recognizes family caregivers as partners in care. Therefore, the aim of the project to benefit from the grant funding is to develop an assessment of family caregiver needs for purposes of guiding program development or treatment planning which recognizes the value of patient-family care. By recognizing and promoting the importance of the health and well-being of family caregivers, it is anticipated that care recipients will avoid unnecessary re-hospitalizations and trips to the emergency room.

In addition, the project to promote a caregiver assessment of needs promotes the need for patient and family centered care in the Vanderbilt Community by recognizing the value of family as partners in health care. In the ever approaching future, the demand for family caregivers will likely outpace the supply. Better support for caregivers in the Vanderbilt Community can help to mitigate the potentially dire effects of the gap on both patient outcomes and health care costs.

As the project is of a qualitative nature, it is open to change as the study proceeds and new insights emerge directing the study to develop the program/treatment. The Care for the Caregiver Page will update the growth of the project as it transpires and is applicable.