Welcome to the new issue of Update from Next Step in Care—the United Hospital Fund campaign to build strong partnerships between family caregivers and health care professionals, especially during transitions between care settings.  Update keeps you informed about new materials, additions to the Next Step in Care website, and other campaign progress.

New Guide to Urgent Care Centers

Urgent care centers help fill the gap between a doctor’s office and a hospital’s emergency room (ER). They provide treatment for sudden illnesses or injuries that need attention right away but are not life-threatening emergencies. Examples are sprains, cuts, sore throats, or urinary tract infections. But urgent care centers can be confusing. They have different names, professional staffing, and hours when they are open. A new Next Step in Care guide offers family caregivers some basic information about urgent care centers and a list of five important questions to ask. For true emergencies, such as chest pains or difficulty breathing, the Next Step in Care ER guide is a helpful resource. 

Like Us on Facebook!

Our new Facebook page—Family Caregivers and Better Health Care—is up, and we hope you will stop by for updates on Next Step in Care and discussions of news items relevant to family caregiving. Please share the page with family caregivers who may benefit from guidance on navigating the complex health care system.   We invite your comments and posts (no commercials for products or services, please), and hope you will “like” what you see.

Commentary on Home Health Aides

The National Center for Health Statistics recently released the first nationally representative survey of 3,377 home health aides employed by agencies. In a commentary, Carol Levine summarizes the results and suggests some implications for the future development of this essential workforce. The survey found that, although many of the typical assumptions about low wages are accurate, a large majority of the home health aides were extremely or somewhat satisfied with their jobs. The most significant downside was their perception that their work was not valued highly enough by their supervisors or employers or by society at large.