Saturday, May 17, 2008
NEWS
Texas Hospital Embraces Caregiver Support
REACH II Underway at Scott & White Hospital in Temple
Scott & White Memorial Hospital in Temple Texas is bridging the gap between hospital and community for family caregivers. As a current Quality Care Connections Grantee, Scott and White, through their Program on Aging and Care, is implementing an Alzheimer’s caregiver support program adapted from the REACH II (Resources for Enhancing Alzheimer’s Caregiver’s Health) intervention.
The nursing staff from Scott & White Memorial Hospital provides identified Alzheimer’s caregivers with a packet of informational resources and a risk assessment. The risk assessment guides follow-up services within the Scott and White Family Resource Center and the Central Texas AAA. Dr. Alan Stevens, one of the original REACH II investigators, assists with implementation of the program.
Staff developed the Caregiver packets and worked with the hospital’s IT team to place “prompts” in the nursing electronic records. Specifically, the prompts occur when a caregiver of any sort is identified in the hospital. The prompt then says ‘If the caregiver is caring for an Alzheimer’s/dementia patient, please give them the CAREGIVER PACKET’. Project staff introduced the program to the nurses during floor meetings. Staff began the project on only a few units of the hospital, selecting the units with the most dementia/Alzheimer's admissions. They are preparing to systematically roll the project out to all units of the hospital over the next few months.
During a recent visit to Scott & White, representatives from the RCI and Johnson & Johnson were able to visit the Aging and Care Family Resource Center. The Resource Center was designed specifically for the project and is intended to be a welcoming, peaceful atmosphere for the caregivers to come in at any time and discuss the intervention plans and available services with project staff. See photos from the Family Resource Center.
Staff are confident that enrollment in the program will increase significantly as they roll out to every hospital unit, and nursing staff become accustomed to delivering the caregiving packets and directing caregivers to the program.
Staff from the Scott & White Program on Aging and Care and the Central Texas AAA utilize ServicePoint software which allows for seamless delivery of services to caregivers enrolled in their program. ServicePoint allows project staff to make instant referrals to the AAA’s Aging and Disability Resource Center and other providers in the area. Once caregiver information is entered into ServicePoint, all area providers are updated with the same information. This eliminates a great deal of red tape and repetitive data entry. Caregivers are more likely to access support services if they don’t have to navigate the system on their own.
Family caregivers in Central Texas are lucky to have such an innovative program and dedicated people working to improve their quality of life.