Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregiving For more information, contact: Laura Granberry
(229) 928-1234 lbgran@canes.gsw.edu
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Dec. 7, 2009
National Quality Caregiving Network
Announces 2009-2011 Grantees
AMERICUS--The National Quality Caregiving Network (NQCN), a partnership between Johnson & Johnson and the Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregiving (RCI), funds pilot projects that embed evidence-based caregiver programs in diverse and easily accessible community settings and delivery systems. Recently announced 2009-2011 grantees will receive $100,000 for a two-year period to help support this work. The grantees are:
Benjamin Rose Institute, Cleveland, Ohio – Through its Eldercare Services Institute, the Benjamin Rose Institute will implement Care Consultation, a telephone-based coaching intervention developed for caregivers of persons with dementia, through its outpatient clinic. Care Consultation allows both caregivers and care receivers to develop a long-term relationship with a counselor by phone. The counselor provides specialized information, emotional support, and assistance with mobilizing the family care network and community resources. Dr. David Bass, one of the developers of the Care Consultation intervention, will provide technical assistance and staff training for the program.
Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health, Las Vegas, Nev. – This program will adapt and offer the New York University Caregiver Intervention (NYUCI) through its specialized brain clinic. A unique feature of this pilot is the use of video conferencing to extend the intervention to rural and underserved communities. The intervention includes six sessions of individual and family counseling, followed by support group participation, and additional ad hoc counseling by telephone for the primary caregiver and family members. Developer of the NYUCI, Dr. Mary Mittelman will provide technical assistance and staff training for the program.
Southern Caregiver Resource Center, San Diego, Calif. – The Southern Caregiver Resource Center will adapt REACH-OUT for Spanish-speaking communities. REACH OUT is a translation of the REACH II intervention (Resources for Enhancing Alzheimer's Caregiver Health), developed by Dr. Lou Burgio at the University of Michigan and the Alabama State Aging Network. The development of REACH OUT was supported by an earlier grant from NQCN. The intervention includes a caregiver assessment, four in-home psycho-educational workshops, and three telephone support follow-up contacts. This project will allow REACH-OUT program materials to be culturally adapted and translated into Spanish, and offered through a diverse community service network. Dr. Dolores Gallagher-Thompson, one of the developers of the REACH II intervention, will provide technical assistance and staff training for the program and Drs. Mario Garrett and Ramon (Ray) Valle of the Department of Gerontology at San Diego State University will oversee the project’s evaluation.
St. Johns County Council (SJC) on Aging, St. Augustine, Fla. – The SJC Council on Aging has teamed up with Kurt Hubbard, OTD, OTR/L, assistant professor from the University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences, to offer occupational therapist student’s clinical experience in caring for participants with dementia and their families by training them to deliver the Environmental Skill-Building Program (ESP) for caregivers of individuals with dementia. This project will support two important innovations; training advanced OT students in ESP as part of their regular education program, and development of a “train the trainer” program for ESP that will enable the program to be offered more widely. The Environmental Skill Building Program (ESP) was developed by Dr. Laura Gitlin at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, and includes 10 home visits for needs assessment, development of an action plan, and caregiver training. Gitlin will provide technical assistance to the project.
The Wellness Community of Southeast Michigan, Ann Arbor, Mich. - In conjunction with the National Wellness Community and Gilda’s Club Headquarters, the Wellness Community of Southeast Michigan will work with Laurel Northouse, PhD, RN, RAAN, to translate her FOCUS Intervention for cancer patients and caregivers into their community setting in Ann Arbor, Mich. This is the first effort to translate this important new intervention for broad use in a community setting. The FOCUS intervention components are Family Involvement, Optimistic Attitude, Coping Effectiveness, Uncertainty Reduction, and Symptom Management. Northouse, Mary Lou Willard French, professor of Nursing at the University of Michigan, will provide technical assistance and staff training for the project.
The NQCN is a learning community made up of community-based demonstration sites and program developers working in partnership to find ways to make effective programs available to caregivers through a wide array of service delivery systems.
Its mission is to improve the quality of long-term, home and community-based care by making evidence-based supports for family and professional caregivers widely available and easily accessible. The work of NQCN involves careful translation of effective programs for use in new settings and systems, developing agency readiness to implement these programs with fidelity, and creating supportive policy, funding and community systems.
Richard Birkel, executive director of the RCI, believes that more public-private partnerships such as the Johnson & Johnson/Rosalynn Carter Institute Caregivers Program are needed to move evidence-based programs into widespread usage.
“In order to move quickly to address the urgent needs of family caregivers in the U.S., we need to bring all sectors of society to the table to develop solutions,” said Birkel. “Johnson and Johnson is showing what the best corporations in America can do to help. By sponsoring innovative partnerships like these, J & J is helping to build a future in which family caregivers will have easy access to interventions that build their capacity and skill, and reduce the strain of caring for family members with chronic, long-term conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease and cancer.”
Since 2001, Johnson and Johnson in partnership with the RCI has awarded more than $1.5 million in grants to support innovative programs for caregivers. This partnership builds on the RCI’s 22 years of advocacy for caregivers and on the credo of Johnson & Johnson to be “responsible to the communities in which we live and work” and “encourage…better health and education.”
- GSW -