Rosalynn Carter Leadership Award
Named in honor of a great humanitarian, the Rosalynn Carter Leadership in Caregiving Award is the highest award given in the caregiving field. The Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregiving (RCI) is proud to announce that the winner of the 2009 Rosalynn Carter Leadership in Caregiving Award is the partnership between the Central Texas Area Agency on Aging and Scott & White Memorial Hospital’s Program on Aging and Care.
The Rosalynn Carter Leadership in Caregiving Award recognizes innovative partnerships between community agencies and caregiving researchers that bridge the gap between science and practice. These partnerships help move effective programs to widespread use in the community more quickly and efficiently.
The community partnership between the Central Texas AAA and Scott & White first came to the attention of the RCI during a site visit in 2006. Working collaboratively, volunteers in Central Texas were being trained to deliver components of the evidence-based REACH II intervention to , using the Support Team Network model. Building upon that initial collaborative effort, these partners have mobilized their combined strengths to offer a seamless array of services to caregivers. Referrals for services come through a variety of sources, including floor nurses at Scott & White Memorial Hospital using a special prompt that identifies caregivers, an on-site interventionist co-located in the hospital, as well as AAA and Aging & Disability Resource Center staff. This allows caregivers to be more easily identified, assessed and referred to services determined by their current level of risk. State of the art ServicePoint software enables program staff at all locations to make instant referrals for services to assist caregivers. Evidence-based programs currently offered to families are: Chronic Illness Self-Management, Matter of Balance Fall Prevention, Central Texas Support Teams, REACH II, Savvy Caregiver, and Care Transitions. By leveraging funding from a variety of sources, other programs are also now being implemented: The Community Living Program and the Veteran’s Directed Home & Community Based Services Program. On the horizon are the Medication Management Improvement System and Healthy Ideas.
The Rosalynn Carter Leadership in Caregiving Award is sponsored by Johnson & Johnson, RCI’s partner since 2001. This partnership builds on the significant work accomplished by the RCI over the past 22 years as well as on the credo of Johnson & Johnson to be “responsible to the communities in which we live and work”,and to “encourage better health and education.”