Nearly Half of Caregivers Are Not Asked if They Need Help With Tasks

"One of the challenges I know from qualitative studies is that family caregivers are concerned about speaking up for their needs for help, because if it's a short visit they [want] the attention of the clinician focused on the patient,” says Wolff. She also notes that caregiving is so multidimensional that there is no single solution to problems. “In some cases, the caregiver's need can be financial considerations related to work or employment. In other cases, it can be emotional support and counseling or respite care. It may be training to help with medically oriented activities. Part of the challenge for developing effective systems-based approaches is that they need to be flexible."

Meredith Greene, M.D., a geriatrician, internist and assistant professor in the Department of Medicine, Division of Geriatrics, at the University of California San Francisco, says that many health care providers may not ask struggling caregivers if they need support because they themselves don't know the resources that are available.

More coordinated team-based care by the health care system is one solution to improving care for older adults. “Even if the individual provider is not familiar with programs, a social worker or care manager could work with the care provider to help with referrals for other caregiving resources,” says Greene.

Greene says in her work she strives to “empower the caregiver to speak up — not only if they feel there are things they need help with — but just to give the insight into the person [they are caring for]. Has there been a change in function? How are they really managing their medications? The patient may say one thing and the caregiver may have a different perspective."

She thinks it is a step in the right direction that many primary care providers are routinely asking their patients if they have caregiving responsibilities. “It's another opportunity to then assess how that person is doing and try to connect them to resources."