Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #105234

Marjorie Getz, PhD (c), Bradley University, 1501 W Bradley Avenue, Peoria, IL 61606, 309-673-2854, magetz@bradley.edu and M. Barbara Campbell, Marketing, Institute of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 6501 N. Sheridan Road, Peoria, IL 61614.

The presentation describes development of Caregiving 101: Caring for the Physical Needs of Someone at Home, a manual focused on physical aspects of caregiving, distributed to caregivers over age 60 or any person caring for someone over age 60 living in a six-county service area in Central Illinois. The concept developed from focus-group needs assessments done with local family caregivers and community health professionals involved with caregiving programs. Manual development included benchmarking using thorough searches for similar materials available in professional journals or on Internet sites. The manual is organized to serve the needs of a variety of caregivers (part-time to full-time) and includes nine topics, triage sheets for emergencies, and community resource guides. Each manual comes with an evaluation form (and return envelope) to keep this tool up-to-date and relevant to family caregivers. The manual was written using a fifth grade reading level. The distribution plan allowed provision of the manual to those most in need of supportive educational materials especially those with limited incomes and those in rural areas without easily available patient education resources. Three hundred have been distributed to date. The opportunities for outreach to diverse segments in targeted service area communities led to design of half-day and full-day workshops based on the manual for family caretakers and clinicians in geriatric practice.

Learning Objectives:

• After the session, participants will
• 1.appreciate the scope of caregiving in the US,
• 2.understand the concept of "continuum of caregiving,"
• 3.be familiar with the public health approach to addressing health problems;
• 4.understand many components of the physical aspects of caregiving,
• 5.be more aware of how to reach underserved groups in communities to provide caregiving support.

Keywords: Caregivers, Education

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.