Project Grant CE147046

COMMUNITY PROJECT FUNDING/CONGRESSIONALLY DIRECTED SPENDING - CONSTRUCTION - TITLE: BUILDING A CAREGIVER-CENTERED APPROACH TO DATA COLLECTION & ANALYSIS ROSALYNN CARTER INSTITUTE FOR CAREGIVERS, INC. PO BOX 647, AMERICUS, GA 31709 PROJECT DIRECTOR: KARL BOND, DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS & ADMINISTRATION PHONE: 706.530.1396 EMAIL: OPS@ROSALYNNCARTER.ORG WWW.ROSALYNNCARTER.ORG FUNDS REQUESTED: $1,100,000 MORE THAN 53 MILLION PEOPLE SERVE AS UNPAID OR INFORMAL FAMILY CAREGIVERS IN THE UNITED STATES, THOSE WHO ARE SUPPORTING THE PHYSICAL, MENTAL, FINANCIAL, AND/OR SOCIAL NEEDS OF A RELATIVE, FRIEND, OR LOVED ONE. CAREGIVERS FACE DISPROPORTIONATE PHYSICAL AND MENTAL HEALTH IMPACTS AS A RESULT OF THEIR CAREGIVING ROLES. YET, THERE IS LIMITED UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT DRIVES THESE ADVERSE HEALTH EFFECTS AND WHAT CAN BE DONE TO REDUCE OR ELIMINATE THEM. THIS FUNDING REQUEST FOR THE CAREGIVER DATABASE PROGRAM AT THE ROSALYNN CARTER INSTITUTE FOR CAREGIVERS (RCI), WILL ENABLE RCI TO BETTER MANAGE AND SHARE DATA WITH PARTNERS AND STAKEHOLDERS TO SUPPORT THE IDENTIFICATION AND ADOPTION OF BEST PRACTICES. FURTHER, IT WILL SUPPORT TRAINING OF STAFF AND PARTNERS TO UTILIZE DATA TO EFFECTIVELY IDENTIFY CHARACTERISTICS OF CAREGIVERS MOST LIKELY TO BENEFIT FROM COACHING PROGRAMS, ASSESS NEEDS AND CHALLENGES ACROSS DIFFERENT CAREGIVER GROUPS, AND ADAPT PROGRAMS TO SUPPORT CAREGIVERS IN GEORGIA AND, ULTIMATELY, THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY. CURRENTLY RESEARCHERS OFTEN SHARE FINDINGS ABOUT PROGRAMMATIC OUTCOMES MONTHS OR EVEN YEARS AFTER PROGRAMS CONCLUDE, AND THE FURTHER DEVELOPMENT OF THE CAREGIVER DATABASE PROGRAM WOULD EXPEDITE THE PROCESS OF COLLECTING AND MINING DATA TO DEMONSTRATE OUTCOMES AT THE POPULATION LEVEL. RCI WILL UTILIZE THIS PROGRAM TO EXPAND ON OUR ABILITY TO SHARE OUR FINDINGS WITH THE PUBLIC AND CAREGIVER COMMUNITY, INCLUDING OUR PARTNERS AND INTERESTED CAREGIVER STAKEHOLDER COMMUNITIES, IN ORDER TO APPLY OUR LEARNINGS AND PROMOTE THE FASTER SCALING OF EFFECTIVE PROGRAMS TO REACH AND SUPPORT A GREATER POPULATIO N OF CAREGIVERS. OVER ITS 35-YEAR HISTORY, THE ROSALYNN CARTER INSTITUTE FOR CAREGIVERS (RCI) HAS CONSISTENTLY STRIVED TO ENSURE THAT EVIDENCE-BASED AND EVIDENCE-INFORMED PROGRAMMING IS A CORE ELEMENT OF OUR ORGANIZATIONAL STRATEGY. IN RECOGNITION OF THE IMPORTANCE OF DATA TO INFORM WORK WITH FAMILY CAREGIVERS, RCI HAS INVESTED OVER $3 MILLION IN ITS CAREGIVER DATA PLATFORM OVER THE PAST 4 YEARS. INITIALLY, THIS PLATFORM FOCUSED ON DATA FROM RCI'S CAREGIVER COACHING PROGRAMS, PROVIDING US WITH FOUNDATIONAL KNOWLEDGE OF HOW A DATA SYSTEM CAN BEST BE UTILIZED TO SUPPORT CAREGIVERS AND INFORM BOTH OUR WORK AND THE WORK OF OTHERS IN THE CAREGIVING SPHERE.? UNDER THE CURRENT SYSTEM, PARTNERS WHO LICENSE RCI PROGRAMS BENEFIT FROM THE SYSTEM WITH SUPPORT FROM RCI STAFF. THE PLANNED NEXT ITERATION OF THIS PLATFORM WILL OFFER A CENTRALIZED, ROBUST, AND ADAPTABLE SYSTEM FOR DATA COLLECTION, ANALYSIS, AND REPORTING BY DISPARATE ORGANIZATIONS WITHIN A LARGE AND GROWING NETWORK OF PARTNER ORGANIZATIONS SERVING CAREGIVERS.