{"id":538,"date":"2025-02-24T15:20:39","date_gmt":"2025-02-24T15:20:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dhss.delaware.gov\/dsaapd\/cargiver_focus_group_report\/"},"modified":"2025-02-24T15:20:39","modified_gmt":"2025-02-24T15:20:39","slug":"cargiver_focus_group_report","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/dhss.delaware.gov\/dsaapd\/cargiver_focus_group_report\/","title":{"rendered":"cargiver_focus_group_report ~  Caregiver Focus Group Grant Report   &#8211; Delaware Health and Social Services &#8211; State of Delaware"},"content":{"rendered":"<div data-swiftype-index=\"true\">\n\n\n\n\n\n  <br>\n\n\n  \n\n\n  <div class=\"container\" id=\"main_header\">\n\n\n     <!-- BEGIN readspeaker div -->\n\n\n    <div class=\"rs_skip rsbtn rs_preserve\" id=\"readspeaker_button1\">\n\n\n      <a accesskey=\"L\" class=\"rsbtn_play\" href=\"https:\/\/app-na.readspeaker.com\/cgi-bin\/rsent?customerid=7262&#038;lang=en_us&#038;readid=main_content&#038;url=https:\/\/dhss.delaware.gov\/dsaapd\/cargiver_focus_group_report.html\" title=\"Listen to this page using ReadSpeaker\">\n\n\n        <span class=\"rsbtn_left rsimg rspart\"><span class=\"rsbtn_text\"><span>Listen<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n\n\n        <span class=\"rsbtn_right rsimg rsplay rspart\"><\/span>\n\n\n      <\/a>\n\n\n    <\/div>\n\n\n    <!-- END readspeaker div -->\n\n\n\n\n\n    \n\n\n    <header class=\"pull-left\">\n\n\n      <h1><!--[type=EDIT name=\"Page Title\"]-->Caregiver Focus Group Report<!--[END]--><\/h1>\n\n\n    <\/header>\n\n\n  <\/div><br>\n\n\n \n\n\n  <div class=\"container\">\n\n\n    <div class=\"row\">\n\n\n      <div class=\"col-md-3\" id=\"leftCol\">\n\n\n        <div class=\"panel-group\" id=\"accordion\">\n\n\n          <div class=\"panel sectionmenu_panel\">\n\n\n            <div class=\"panel-heading\">\n\n\n              <p 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id=\"SocialMenuHeader\"><h2>Connect <i class=\"fa fa-thumbs-o-up fa-fw\"><\/i><\/h2><\/a>\n  <ul id=\"SocialMenu\">\n    <li class=\"facebook\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DEPublicHealth\" title=\"Division of Public Health Facebook Page\" target=\"_blank\"><i class=\"fa fa-facebook-square fa-lg\"><\/i> Facebook<\/a><\/li>\n    <li class=\"twitter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Delaware_DHSS\" title=\"Delaware Health and Social Services Twitter Account\" target=\"_blank\"><i class=\"fa fa-twitter-square fa-lg\"><\/i> Twitter<\/a><\/li>\n    <li class=\"googleplus\"><a href=\"#\"><i class=\"fa fa-google-plus-square fa-lg\"><\/i> Google +<\/a><\/li>\n    <li class=\"flickr\"><a href=\"#\"><i class=\"fa fa-flickr fa-lg\"><\/i> Flickr<\/a><\/li>\n    <li class=\"youtube\"><a href=\"#\"><i class=\"fa fa-youtube-square fa-lg\"><\/i> Youtube<\/a><\/li>\n    <li class=\"instagram\"><a href=\"#\"><i class=\"fa fa-instagram fa-lg\"><\/i> Instagram<\/a><\/li>\n    <li class=\"linkedin\"><a href=\"#\"><i class=\"fa fa-linkedin-square fa-lg\"><\/i> Linkedin<\/a><\/li>\n    <li class=\"pinterest\"><a href=\"#\"><i class=\"fa fa-pinterest-square fa-lg\"><\/i> Pinterest<\/a><\/li>\n  <\/ul>\n<\/li>  -->\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n\n\n              <\/div>\n\n\n            <\/div>\n\n\n          <\/div>\n\n\n        <\/div><br>\n\n\n      <\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\n      <div class=\"col-md-9\" id=\"main_content\"> \n\n\n  <!--[type=HTMLEDIT name=\"Content\"]-->\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<p>The Division of Services for Aging and Adults with Physical Disabilities (DSAAPD) is using the findings from a report based on caregiver focus groups held late last year across the state to enhance its current supports and develop a new approach to caregiver services. This includes the formation of the Delaware Action Network for Caregivers, a forum where caregivers can learn and collaborate with agencies supporting caregivers. Its inaugural meeting will be held in mid-November during National Family Caregivers Month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<p>DSAAPD released the report today, compiled by Wilder Research, which builds on the Division\u2019s efforts to better support unpaid family caregivers throughout the lifespan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cFamily caregivers play a significant role in supporting parents, children, siblings, and other loved ones who need care for a variety of reasons,\u201d said DSAAPD Director Melissa Smith. \u201cMany older adults prefer to remain in their homes for as long as possible, and families often prefer to care for their children and other family members at home. However, caregiving can have major impacts on caregivers\u2019 health and well-being. Providing supports to these individuals and helping them access the resources they need is critically important.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<p>Five main themes emerged from eight focus group sessions that included 38 participants:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Family caregiver<\/strong> <strong>characteristics and<\/strong> <strong>experiences<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<p>According to the AARP report, <em>Caregiving in the United States 2020<\/em>, caregiving cuts across generations, race and ethnicity, income and family composition, among other identifiers. The characteristics of the caregivers who participated in the local focus groups affirms this observation. However, the information shared by the caregivers during the focus groups showed that there is no one \u201ctypical\u201d caregiver and no one \u201ctypical\u201d caregiver experience. Needs and expectations vary and can be constantly in flux.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Lack of awareness of services and difficulty locating useful information <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<p>Focus group participants expressed a lack of full information about what services might be available to them as one of the most common barriers to accessing supports. In addition, focus group participants expressed frustration with the amount of time and effort required to navigate systems and find supports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Concerns about the reliability and quality of services<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<p>Focus group participants discussed difficulties in arranging for services. Many factors contribute to this, including the limited availability of paid staff, cost of care, uncertainties about whether caregivers can trust the information or abilities of paid staff, and care recipients\u2019 reluctance to have unfamiliar people care for them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Financial impact of caregiving<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<p>Families are asked to make difficult choices about finances and managing necessary care. Participants discussed the high cost of medical care and the challenges of navigating insurance coverage. In addition, paid employment can be difficult to manage in the face of caregiving responsibilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<p>This project was funded through grant support from the National Academy of State Health Policy (NASHP) and the John Hartford Foundation. <a href=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/dsaapd\/pdf\/DSAAPD_CaregiverFocusGroupReport_Final_4-22.pdf\">Read the full\u00a0Caregiver Focus Group Report<\/a>.\u00a0For more information about the Delaware Action Network for Caregivers, call the Delaware Aging and Disability Resource Center (ADRC) at 1-800-223-9074.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n  <!--[END]-->\n\n\n  \n\n\n      <\/div>\n\n\n    <\/div>\n\n\n  <\/div><!-- \/container -->\n\n\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Listen Caregiver Focus Group Report Services for Aging and Adults with Physical Disabilities Menu Home About About DSAAPD Contact Information FAQs Useful Links Services Adult Protective Services All Services Assistance for Caregivers Home and Community-Based Services Information and Supports Residential Care Rights and Protections Information Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation Advance Directives Alzheimer&#8217;s Toolkit Brain Injury [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-538","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dhss.delaware.gov\/dsaapd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/538","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dhss.delaware.gov\/dsaapd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dhss.delaware.gov\/dsaapd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dhss.delaware.gov\/dsaapd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dhss.delaware.gov\/dsaapd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=538"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dhss.delaware.gov\/dsaapd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/538\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":740,"href":"https:\/\/dhss.delaware.gov\/dsaapd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/538\/revisions\/740"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dhss.delaware.gov\/dsaapd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=538"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}