Education and Support Programs for Caregivers : Research, Practice, Policy

For many, caring for a chronically ill family member is “the right thing to do”, but it is also often a source of emotional hardship, physical stress, and social isolation. In response, skill-building, coping, and psychoeducational programs have emerged to help caregivers meet the changes and challenges in their – as well as the patients’ – lives.

Education and Support Programs for Caregivers reveals the diversity of the caregiver population as well as their experiences and needs, and it introduces an empirically solid framework for planning, implementing, and evaluating caregiver programs. The book synthesizes current trends, exploring the effectiveness of different types of programs (e.g., clinic, community, home based) and groups (e.g., peer, professional, self-help), and how supportive programs lead to improved care.

Coverage includes:

• Improving service delivery of education and support programs to underserved caregivers.
• Cultural, ethnic, and gender issues in conducting caregiver education and support groups.
• Utilization patterns (e.g., a key to understanding service needs).
• E-health, telehealth, and other technological developments in caregiver services.
• Evaluating the effectiveness and sustainability of programs.
• Recommendations for future practice, training, policy, and advocacy.

Education and Support Programs for Caregivers offers a wealth of insights and ideas for researchers, practitioners, and graduate students across the caregiving fields, including psychology, social work, public health, geriatrics and gerontology, and medicine as well as public and education policy makers.

Dr. Ronald W. Toseland is Director and Professor, Institute of Gerontology, School of Social Welfare, University at Albany, State University of New York, Albany, New York, USA.

David H. Haigler, EdD, is an independent consultant in the field of caregiving and a Licensed Masters Social Worker (LMSW) who lives in Oglethorpe, Georgia. Prior to his retirement from the University System of Georgia in May, 2004, Dr. Haigler was Deputy Director of the Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregiving, Georgia Southwestern State University.

Deborah J. Monahan, Ph. D. is a Professor of Social Work at Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York, USA. She is also a Faculty Affiliate of the All-University Gerontology Center, and chairs the Faculty Council in the College of Human Ecology.