Prepared to Care™: family caregiver education for hospitals
What happens after families leave the hospital?
A family caregiver may leave the hospital with written instructions and still have questions once they're home. Staff may see that worry before discharge but have limited time to address everything. When those questions go unanswered, patients often end up back in the hospital, and readmissions bring costs and penalties.
Prepared to Care is a 90-day family caregiver support program from Caregiving Pathways, designed to help reduce readmissions. It was created by Beth Suereth, our founder and a Certified Caregiving Consultant, who co-authored the AARP Public Policy Institute's 10-paper series on how hospitals support family caregivers. The program works alongside what your staff already do, adding support for families without adding work for your teams.
Videos, live chats, a plan for the family caregiver, and an online community
The program includes:
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Videos,
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Live video chats,
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A care plan for the family caregiver, and
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An online community forum.
The care plan keeps attention on the person doing the caring, including their responsibilities and the support they need.
Our Organizations page describes the wider work available through Caregiving Pathways, including consulting, staff training, and discussions. You can read it in conjunction with this program description.
Build on the work your teams already do
Prepared to Care is family caregiver education and support. It isn't professional caregiver certification or clinical training, and it doesn't replace the patient's care team's instructions.
Our approach is accretive, not disruptive. Prepared to Care amplifies the impact of your organization's frameworks and processes. Family caregivers are enrolled when their family member is admitted, so no one has to go looking for help. Beyond sharing the information we need to enroll families, your staff don't have to take on anything new. We take it from there.
Bring your questions to Beth
Review our Organizations page, then book a strategy consultation with Beth. Tell us what your teams are hearing from family caregivers and what you'd like to improve. We'll discuss your current processes and how they fit with those needs.