"Caring for You, Caring for Me": A Ten-Year Caregiver Educational Initiative of the Rosalynn Carter Institute for Human Development

Abstract

Caregiver support and education tend to be separated into programs that address the needs of professional or formal caregivers or the needs of family or informal caregivers. The two groups are rarely seen as having a set of shared caregiver needs. This article describes a caregiver education program that includes both family and professional caregiver issues (also called generic issues) developed at the Rosalynn Carter Institute (RCI) for Human Development. HISTORY OF THE ROSALYNN CARTER INSTITUTE The Rosalynn Carter Institute for Human Development was established on the campus of Georgia Southwestern State University by the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia in 1987 in honor of former First Lady Rosalynn Carter, an alumna of the university. The first board of directors of the Institute comprised nationally prominent professionals and community leaders who came to their assignment prepared to launch a national institute in support of Carter's long-standing commitments to human development and mental health issues. The goals of the initiative were to focus on the psychosocial difficulties and rewards associated with caregiving through the education, research, community programs, and advocacy functions of the new institute. When the staff and advisers of the RCI decided to focus on the shared needs of all caregivers, no one believed it would be an easy undertaking. First and foremost was the concern that if caregivers--whether family or professional--were suffering, the quality of the care they provided to others would also suffer (Nottingham & Nottingham, 1990). The Conceptual Basis of RCI Caregiver Education Six precepts of caregiver education and support are held together by one unifying belief espoused by Carter on behalf of all who work with her (Figure 1). Historians gauge the greatness of a society by the extent to which it cares for its people (Carter, 1990). In summary, the precepts include recognition of the need for socialization into the caregiver role; adequate, appropriate, and accessible caregiver education;acknowledgment of the interdependency of all people in a society; vigilance in monitoring public policy and associated advocacy actions; research and the generation of knowledge and skill for effective caregiving; and a unifying definition of caregiving across all groups, settings, and situations (Nottingham & Nottingham, 1990). THE EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM The RCI educational program Caring for You, Caring for Me (CFY, CFM) was developed from both a community needs assessment of the 16-county area in west central Georgia, and ongoing work of an advisory committee of the RCI to identify educational niches for the institute (Rosalynn Carter Institute for Human Development, 1995). The program that exists today has not strayed far from the original intent of its creators, although parts of the program have been updated as needed (Haigler, Mims, & Nottingham, 1998a, 1998b). CFY, CFM includes 10 hours of instruction conducted in five sessions or modules that can be delivered once a week over a five-week period. The recommended class size is 15 to 25 participants. Each session is approximately two hours and fifteen minutes in length, including time for a break. All aspects of the program are designed to bring professional and family caregivers together in a relaxed setting to discuss common issues, share ideas, and gain a better understanding of each other's perspectives of what it means to be a caregiver. Based on the experiences of RCI trainers, the ideal mix of professional to family caregivers is half and half. Over time, the program has been enhanced by the addition of content on resilience and the use of multimedia instruction. To date, approximately 300 leaders in seven states (California, Colorado, Georgia, New Jersey, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Washington) have been trained by RCI staff to provide the program in their respective communities. …