WebJunction

Connecting Family Caregivers to Web-based Resources
Through Public Libraries

Project Background

The National Family Caregivers Association and the National Alliance for Caregiving have collaborated and jointly developed the Family Caregiving 101 web site which provides simple, basic information and links about family caregiving.

These partners also collaborated on granting a pilot project to serve family caregivers through public libraries. The goals of the project are: 

• To help family caregivers, with little or no access to the Web, understand the wealth of caregiving resources available, using Family Caregiving101 as the primary teaching tool.
  

• To show family caregivers that public libraries are a valuable resource for information, access to computers, and training on how to use the Internet.
  

• To pilot a replicable model of public library programs for educating urban, low-income African-American caregivers and hard-to-reach low income rural caregivers.    

 Project Description

Public libraries provided a series of 3-4 programs targeted at urban, low income African-American and hard-to-reach rural family caregivers; the programs demonstrated the resources available family caregivers on the Internet and trained attendees on accessing the information.

Staff from the National Family Caregivers Association and the National Alliance for Caregiving trained library staff on:

• Characteristics and needs of the family caregiving community
• Accessing and using Family Caregiving 101 resources and identifying additional local resources
• Outreach strategies to use when working with family caregivers and resource providers
• Collaborating with local groups and organizations to reach family caregivers
• Characteristics of successful programs and services

Target Communities

The project targeted two specific segments of the family caregiving community that are less likely to have easy access to computers and the Internet:

• Urban, low income African-American family caregivers (over 10% of the community's population)*
• Rural, low income, family caregivers (population density under 160 persons per square mile)**

Project Requirements

Libraries receiving funding are required to:

• Designate a library staff member to serve as project leader.
• Send project leader to a one-day training session.
• Conduct a series of 3-4 programs for family caregivers in their community.
• Distribute pre and post evaluation forms to family caregiver participants. 
• Submit a brief final report with information on outreach efforts, results of pre and post evaluations, number of caregivers reached, and lessons learned.

Project Results

The National Family Caregivers Association and the National Alliance for Caregiving will summarize the concepts and materials tested by participating libraries to develop a national model that can be replicated by other libraries. The model will be published and disseminated at key national library meetings.  

Facts About Family Caregiving in the U.S. 

• There are 44.4 million family caregivers, or 21% of the adult population, caring for those 18 and older who are frail, have a disability or suffer from chronic illness. This number is expected to grow as the Boomer generation continues to age.
• Eighty percent of the long-term care support and services in our country are provided by family members and other unpaid caregivers—volunteers, friends, and neighbors.
• Caregivers need respite care, information about community resources, training, financial support, and flexible hours.
• The typical family caregiver is a 46-year-old Boomer woman who works and spends an average of 20 hours per week caring for her elderly mother who lives nearby.
• Many caregivers are part of the “sandwich generation” who delayed child bearing and are now caught between the demands of child rearing, eldercare, and work.  

Most caregivers choose not to identify themselves as caregivers and believe they should be able to fulfill the needs of those in their care on their own.

For information and technical assistance, contact:

Douglas C. Lord,  Division of Library Development, Connecticut State Library

Middletown Library Service Center, 786 South Main Street, Middletown, CT 06457

1-800-437-2313 (in CT only) or 860-704-2204

dlord@cslib.org

* for calculating the percentage of African American residents in your community, use the American Factfinder

** for population density, use the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development's excel tables of land area and population density. For AENGLC rank, use the State Department of Education, Division of Finance and Internal Operations website.