As of 2020 there are 53 million family caregivers in the United States who care for disabled, chronically ill or elderly loved ones. These unpaid caregivers often juggle additional duties as parents, spouses, employees, business owners, students and more. The compounded burden has negative impact on the caregivers’ physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health that are ringing alarm bells among mental health practitioners and other health care professionals as well as community-based leaders and advocates.

With 1 in 5 American adults providing unpaid care to a loved one- on average providing a minimum of 40 hours of care per week- most, if not all social workers, interact directly or indirectly with a family caregiver. It is imperative for you to know the dynamics and impact of this type of caregiving so we can develop, implement, and advocate for the most effective interventions, solutions, and policies.

In this live, interactive webinar, we will discuss the current status of family caregiving and explore actionable strategies for micro, mezzo, and macro level interventions to ensure caregiver wellness.

TRAINING FORMAT

• Live Interactive Zoom webinar with PowerPoint presentation and handouts

Instructor: Dawn E. Shedrick, LCSW

Learning Objectives:

• DEFINE and DESCRIBE family caregiving in the United States

• EXPLAIN the systems-level impact on caregiving in the United States

• DEFINE a family caregiver

• DEFINE caregiver stress

• DESCRIBE the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual effects of caregiving on the caregiver

• DESCRIBE and IMPLEMENT at least 4 ways social workers can effectively support family caregivers in reducing the impact of caregiver stress
  

Target Audience: Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced

What You’ll Learn:

1. Family Caregiving in the U.S. (12:30PM-12:45PM)

a. What is family caregiving?

b. How has family caregiving shifted over time in the U.S.?

c. What is the current state of family caregiving?

2. Family Caregivers (12:45PM-1:00PM)

a. What is a family caregiver?

b. Who are family caregivers?

3. Systems-Level Impact on Family Caregiving in the U.S. (1:00PM-1:15PM)

a. What are the systemic issues that impact our health?

b. How do these issues impact caregiving in the U.S. today?

4. Caregiver Stress (1:15PM-1:30PM)

a. What is caregiver stress?

b. What are the signs and symptoms of caregiver stress?

5. Caregiver Health (1:30PM-1:45PM)

a. How does caregiving affect the caregivers..

i. Physical health?

ii. Mental health?

iii. Emotional health?

iv. Spiritual health?

6. Social Work’s Impact on Family Caregiving (1:45PM-2:00PM)

a. What are micro-level strategies for supporting family caregiver health and wellness?

b. What are community-level strategies for supporting caregiver health and wellness?

c. What are macro-level strategies for improving family caregiver health and wellness?

7. Q&A and Sharing (2:00PM-2:30PM)

CE Credits: 2 General CE Credits for licensed social workers