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Membership Continuing Education
Developing Programs to Support Family Caregivers During Patient Hospital Stays and Care Transitions

Publication Date: 6/5/2024


Length: 57 minutes, 29 seconds

Content Level: 1 Foundational/Beginner, General CE

Abstract
Family caregivers serve an essential function in care transitions by managing patient needs, offloading work from hospital clinical teams, reducing capacity constraints on health care systems and maintaining complex care plans. Yet, they are often unprepared for these responsibilities. This session describes two caregiver support programs and reviews aspects such as the rationale and development of a model program replicated in over 20 U.S. hospitals, and a pilot program that provides onsite support. Shared findings demonstrate the impact on caregiver outcomes (perceptions of quality of care, preparedness for discharge), staff outcomes (burnout, ability to provide adequate care to families), patient outcomes (30- and 90-day readmission rates) and experience outcomes (escalation of complaints; top-box scores on transitions in care).

Learning Objectives
1. Describe caregiving as a health care delivery issue.
2. Explain the rationale for a new model that supports relationship-centered care.
3. Provide a care model intended to engage caregivers in health care delivery.
4. Describe the design and intended outcomes of the Caregiver Support Center pilot study.

Speakers:
Dr. Joan Griffin, PhD | Division of Health Care Delivery Services and Division of Health Care Policy and Research | Mayo Clinic

Dr. Joan M. Griffin is a scientist in the Robert D. and Patricia E. Kern Center for the Science of Health Care Delivery. Griffin has developed a robust research portfolio studying the health effects of family caregiving on both caregiver and care recipient health. Using both qualitative and quantitative methods, she studies how to promote caregiver engagement in care recipient’s health care to improve transitions in care, and assure care recipient’s safety, health outcomes and quality of life, all while reducing the physical and mental health risks associated with caregiving. Griffin’s work addresses the health impact of caregiving, on both caregivers and care recipients, and focuses on people with critical illnesses, including cancer, traumatic brain injury and Alzheimer’s Disease.

Lynne Vitagliano, LCSW | Caregiver Support Program Supervisor, Care Management | Mayo Clinic

Lynne Vitagliano, Licensed Clinical Social Worker has 20 years’ experience in diverse areas including clinical social work practice in acute medical and psychiatric settings as well as out-patient transplant clinics. She has worked at the Mayo Clinic for 11 years in outpatient solid organ transplant and has extensive experience in the Emergency Department setting prior to her role in program development and supervision for the Caregiver Support Program. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of Illinois, Champagne Urbana, and her master’s degree in Social Work with a concentration in Health and Interpersonal Studies from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

Keywords: health care delivery, caregivers, support

Developing Programs to Support Family Caregivers During Patient Hospital Stays and Care Transitions

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