FCA Shares Third-Year Evaluation on the California Caregiver Resource Centers’ Service Delivery and System Change
Family Caregiver Alliance is pleased to share the release of our Fiscal Year 2021-22 family caregiver data. This yearly evaluation conducted by the Family Caregiver Institute at the UC Davis School of Nursing analyzed data in CareNav™, an online platform deployed across the California’s 11 Caregiver Resource Centers (CRCs), to provide important insight on the experiences, demographics and service needs of nearly 15,000 California family caregivers of adults with cognitive and physical disabilities.
The findings tell us that family caregivers served by the CRCs are providing complex, intense and time-consuming care. These caregivers are often the primary or only caregiver for their care recipient and rarely have paid or family support. Family caregivers, 76% of whom are women, are paying the price with their own mental health, worsening physical health, and symptoms of depression and loneliness. Many have made employment modifications because of caregiving responsibilities, with 7.1% reducing work hours, 5.2% quitting their current job, 3.4% taking early retirement, and 3.3% declining a promotion.
This report has policy implications for paid family leave, meaningful recognition of family caregivers in the health care system, and the need for greater investments in adult day services, long-term services and supports, and caregiver mental and physical health.
The good news is that caregivers are highly satisfied with CRC services. Caregivers identify an array of benefits from their engagement with the CRCs, including tangible supports such as respite and legal assistance and emotional supports that improve confidence and capacity to care and reduce isolation. As CareNav enrollment continues to grow, we expect caregiver satisfaction to remain high—and for even more caregivers across the state to receive the tailored resources and assistance they need for their unique caregiving situation.