CHAMPAIGN – Family caregivers play an important role in the well-being of older adults and can help in their recovery after an illness or hospitalization. For example, they help ensure their loved ones take the right medications, rest after surgery and accommodate other needs, said Mina Raj, assistant professor of health and kinesiology at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
“Caregivers often have a lot of observations and information about their relatives’ daily needs and activities,” Raj said. “Those are things that clinicians don’t have direct observation to really understand. So caregivers can fill in those types of information gaps.”
But communication between the health care system and caregivers, she said, is often lacking.
“The older relative might get medications or recommendations but that isn’t always translated or communicated to the caregiver,” Raj said.
Raj studies caregiving, its challenges and shifting demographics. She describes the caregiver as a third person who really needs information but often doesn’t have access to it.
The lack of communication and coordination between caregivers and healthcare providers places an additional burden on caregivers and can lead to tense family dynamics.
With a growing population of older American adults who will continue to require care, it’s important to consider the emerging population of caregivers who, in many cases, are also aging, she said.
There’s a lot of discussion in the policy world about how to better support caregivers within the healthcare system. Some key initiatives include giving caregivers access to information, support, and services tailored to meet their needs, such as “mental health services, respite services that are meant to give caregivers a break or some self-care, so they can take better care of themselves,” Raj said.
Illinois recently created a task force specifically to support older adults, she said. The state has not been a leader in passing legislation to better support caregivers, like Pennsylvania, but Raj said the new task force is promising because of the changes it could bring.