Caregiver Assessment- Why Do It?

Why do we need a caregiver assessment? First of all let me clarify. This is a family caregiver assessment not a paid caregiver assessment.

When the vise like pressure of family care giving reaches a crisis (burning pots, wandering, incontinence) the family may bring in a geriatric care manager or aging professional to assess both the family caregiver and the care receiver.

The geriatric care manager assesses the care receiver and the caregiver and brings in a range of resources to ensure that the frail elder can stay at the appropriate level of care, usually home.

The success of that frail elder or care receiver staying at the right level of care many times relies on the outside resources (meals on wheels, friendly visitors, paid caregivers) but more likely the key is the assessing and helping informal caregiver system of the aging family. This help might come in the form of respite, training, paid caregivers or sharing the care through other family members. It might be technology like Lots of Helping Hands

These family or informal caregivers represent 78 % of the long-term care system. They are the backbone of long-term care. Professionals geriatric care managers and aging professionals have paid little attention to this spine of both long-term care: the aging family. This blind spot leaves care receiver and the aging family ready to crumble and break unless the family caregiver is urgently assessed for their own needs. The geriatric care manager and the rest of the long-term care system must meet the caregiver’s needs.