Health care providers can improve transitions in care by partnering with family caregivers who assume major responsibilities for patient care at home. These resources and tools have been created for physicians, nurses, therapists, care managers, and other providers who interact with family caregivers before, during, and after transitions.
- A Toolkit for Working with Family Caregivers: A comprehensive approach, the toolkit is divided into key steps of working with family caregivers, such as identifying the family caregiver, conducting a caregiver needs assessment, medication reconciliation and management, and discharge planning.
- Specific Guides for Health Care Providers: Provider-targeted information is available on a range of topics, including HIPAA, the provider’s role in care coordination, and referring caregivers to community-based organizations.
- Quality Improvement Surveys: An important first step in developing an organizational approach to including family caregivers is a survey to determine current practices. Surveys are available for hospitals, nursing home rehabilitation programs, and home health care agencies.
- Videos: Short videos--mostly by subject matter experts in areas such as medication management, hospice and palliative care, and dementia--are featured.
- Frequently Asked Questions: These questions and answers are most often used to help providers make the case for the strategic importance of engaging family caregivers.