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Tools for Family Caregivers Improve Patient Outcomes and Communication

Pharmacies Provide Next Generation of Elder Resources

Chronic health conditions among seniors have emerged as a major cause of stress and functional dependency among Americans. In fact, over 44 million caregivers in America are in a silent crisis; overwhelmed by the responsibility of caring for a chronically ill, disabled or elderly family member.

This represents an opportunity for pharmacies to be at the forefront of an issue that will have an even greater impact as the aging population doubles in the coming decades.

Pharmacies are a logical and almost daily point of contact for information and supplies necessary for caregivers. From prescription medications, testing supplies, first aid supplies, even minor assistive devices, as well as a professional and practiced eye to look out for the harried caregiver. The pharmacy can be a lifeline keeping the family afloat.

Pharmacies are now in a unique position to help family caregivers self-identify and access a comprehensive set of tools to assist their customers/patients through all stages of the process via a branded portal developed by Care Giver Helper.

This solution will also help meet the initiative set by the American Pharmacist's Association to provide patient education and awareness.

A pharmacy branded portal can be utilized to provide information regarding when their prescriptions are ready to be picked up, special sales on caregiving related items, special information that you focus on at your own pharmacy portal and more.

These tools will assist caregivers with managing important family duties with more efficiency and less stress resulting in improved patient outcomes.

According to Steven Dworkin, CEO of Caregiver Helper, a Massachusetts based business that provides tools to assist family caregivers "these families face a multitude of problems from providing the most basic of daily living activities such as feeding, bathing, and transportation, to coordinating medications, medical appointments, dealing with financial responsibilities and more."

Care of the elderly and chronically ill has always been one of the primary functions of the family. The bulk of care giving traditionally falls to one family member, usually the female spouse or adult child. The impact this has on the family has never been greater as women, who are the traditional caregivers, have joined and remain in the workforce.

Moving from crisis to crisis, the caregiver can fall prey to physical and emotional illness.

Higher levels of depression, anxiety and other mental health challenges are common among caregivers;
More than one third of caregivers suffer from poor health themselves including: high blood pressure, increased risk of developing hypertension, poor immune function, slower wound healing and increase in mortality.

The process of care giving is a complex one ranging from simple tasks such as trips to the grocery store to providing the most basic of daily living activities such as feeding, bathing, and toileting, to coordinating transportation, medications, medical appointments, dealing with financial responsibilities and more.

Traditionally caregivers are given few or no resources to address these complex tasks. The risk to the care recipient is also magnified as stressed caregivers seek to balance work, home and caregiving tasks.

It's easy to begin to make mistakes especially with medications. When you consider that as many as 73% of seniors, particularly those with more than 3 chronic health conditions may take an average of 5 - 8 medications daily. It's a lot to keep track of!

A pharmacy branded portal using Care Giver Helper allows the creation of private and secure family communities that allow them to put all their support information in one place: contact numbers of doctors and caregivers, medications and dosages, a common calendar with appointment reminders, and events such as birthdays or anniversaries.

There is also a place to store medical, legal, insurance and other pertinent documents as well as information on care recipient preferences such as favorite foods, music and hobbies.

In addition, Care Giver Helper streamlines the organization and communication between family caregivers facilitating daily activities, emergencies and long term planning which reduce the stress and isolation so often associated with caregiving responsibilities.

Resource communities provide information on specific health related topics such as diabetes, Alzheimer's, heart disease and cancer and as well as providing answers to difficult questions like "when do I take the car keys away from mom?"

Finding resources, seeking expert help, communicating and sharing encouragement with peers are all benefits of these focused communities. One of the unique features of Care Giver Helper is the ability to access all these resources in one location.

Pharmacies can also be an important resource for branded communities. In fact, the stress of caregiving and the difficulty of locating support and local resources often forces families to make the decision to prematurely institutionalize a loved one.

co-authored by: Robert M. Zakon

CareGiverHelper, Inc.

CareGiverHelper is an internet healthcare marketing and communications company that assists organizations build brand awareness, client loyalty and new client acquisition, through an online community for family caregivers. This web based service improves task organization and communication between family caregivers in order to assist in facilitating daily activities, emergency response and longer term planning processes. It also includes discussion and support groups that are facilitated by resource communities that each focus on a specific health related topic. The service is free of charge for non-paid caregivers and their families.