Caregivers Count Too! – Section 3: Things to Keep in Mind …
Things to Keep in Mind …
Whenever possible, use established measures that are:
- practical and applicable to family caregivers
- previously applied, or could be applied, in service settings
- reliable and valid
- cited in the literature
(See Selected Caregiver Assessment Measures: A Resource Inventory for Practitioners in Appendix II).
- Be as simple and direct as possible. For example, when adapting a measure developed for research purposes with four response categories (from “strongly agree” to “strongly disagree), using just two (“agree” and “disagree”) may be sufficient and more practical.
- Control length by using filter questions and making some sections optional.
- Know where your caregiver population is coming from and be prepared to meet them. This means being able to communicate in their language and understand their cultural values as these affect caregiving and service use.
- Administer the assessment questions in a consistent, systematic way to all family caregivers.