NICHE (Nurses Improving Care for Healthsystem Elders), announced its partnership with the AARP Foundation and the American Journal of Nursing (AJN) in the recently launched project to help health professionals work more effectively with family caregivers. Spearheaded by the AARP Foundation and funded by a grant from the Jacob & Valeria Langeloth Foundation, the new effort will create educational materials and toolkits to help nurses and social workers provide more effective support for family caregivers.
Project will help the 52 million Americans who provide unpaid care to family members each year
NICHE (Nurses Improving Care for Healthsystem Elders), announced its partnership with the AARP Foundation and the American Journal of Nursing (AJN) in the recently launched project to help health professionals work more effectively with family caregivers. Spearheaded by the AARP Foundation and funded by a grant from the Jacob & Valeria Langeloth Foundation, the new effort will create educational materials and toolkits to help nurses and social workers provide more effective support for family caregivers.
"We are honored to have been asked to be part of this important AARP project," says Elizabeth A. Capezuti, PhD, RN, FAAN, NICHE faculty director and co-director of the Hartford Institute for Geriatric Nursing. “NICHE has consistently emphasized the critical role the family plays in the quality of care provided to older adult patients.
The AARP effort will help broaden support of family caregivers and improve outcomes for their loved ones."
According to a 2009 AARP and the National Alliance for Caregiving survey, AARP noted only a third of caregivers said they would turn to a health care provider for information about taking care of their loved one. The Langeloth Foundation grant will allow AARP and its project partners to create new resources for nurses and social workers to help them coordinate care with a family caregiver.
NICHE will be able to draw on the extensive geriatric experience and knowledge of the health care professionals in the NICHE hospital network to help create the materials and tool AARP has targeted for this project.
About NICHE
NICHE is a national organization designed to help hospitals improve the care of older adults. NICHE hospitals seek to create an environment where older adult patients receive care that results in better outcomes. This climate of success encourages patients and their families to seek NICHE designated hospitals for their medical needs. The NICHE Network now numbers nearly 300 hospitals throughout North America.
NICHE is a program of The Hartford Institute for Geriatric Nursing at NYU College of Nursing funded in part with generous support from Atlantic Philanthropies and The John A. Hartford Foundation. For more information visit www.nicheprogram.org.