Each of the ten sessions with the caregiver and/or family average 1.5 to 2 hours in length. This allows for billing of up to 20 hours of time per NYUCI family helping to quickly offset the investment in this training and certification program.
Lessons Learned from the Minnesota Experience
If this were an add-on to an organization’s existing services where a caregiver consultant with training in the TCare® assessment tool already worked, the additional intervention-specific start-up costs would be relatively small. If not, there would be start-up costs that need to be considered.
Tracking Costs
In addition to measuring effects on caregivers, the Minnesota Board on Aging and Department of Human Services and the US Administration on Aging were interested in assessing the qualitative effects on project sites and in tracking the costs of this intervention. Therefore a local independent evaluator was hired to assist in tracking, documenting and analyzing implementation issues.
The original study conducted in 6 states outlines a “Readiness Assessment” that is a useful guideline for promoting the program within an organization, which further serves to offset costs in the form of additional income. The following is a checklist that can be used by an organization in order to make the most of available marketing and recruiting strategies.
Assessing Readiness
As part of this implementation, a number of marketing and recruitment strategies were undertaken.
- Access to clients
- In-house or partner agencies should be polled to determined exactly how potential clients will be identified, contacted, and enrolled and the projected number of clients eligible for and interested in the project.
- Service delivery – will you provide the service at the caregiver home, the agency office, or other location chosen by the caregiver?
- What policies are in place for the delivery format you have chosen?
- Do you have a history of success with receiving referrals from other agencies in your community?
- How will you alert your community that this new service is going to be available?
- What are the opportunities for free publicity through the local paper, television stations or radio stations?
- What marketing campaigns have been successful in the past and how may they be utilized for this program?
- If you already have an active outreach staff, what materials and training will they need and what venues will they pursue to begin marketing this service?
- Develop all printed marketing materials now for a media blitz to be conducted immediately upon implementation. Arrange to speak at community meetings, participate in health fairs and other community events coming up over the first six months of the project.
Reference: A Guide to Implementing the New York University Caregiver Intervention and The Minnesota Experience, Mary Mittelman, DrPH, Cynthia Epstein, LCSW, Deborah Paone, MHSA, Donna Walberg, MBA, Alzheimer’s Disease Support Services Program | November 2010, p. 142.
Reference: Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregiving, NYUCI Implementation Guide, page 21-22