Schedule classes worth caregivers’ time
Schedule classes worth caregivers’ time
Reach those who would benefit
When offering courses for cancer caregivers, it is extremely important to select a time and format that is convenient for the participant. "I schedule them the last Thursday of every month at the same time so people come to know when we have them," says Anne Delengowski, RN, MSN, AOCN, oncology clinical nurse specialist at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia. The Strength for Caring course she uses lasts five hours, so all the material is covered in one session.
Delengowski has found that attendance drops off at a high rate if the classes are scheduled over a period of several weeks. Also, the cohesiveness of the group diminishes, as well.
The Strength for Caring class at USC-Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center in Los Angeles is held three consecutive weeks with classes lasting for an hour and a half. However, the facility is considering offering the course monthly because class participants like sharing ideas. That way, people could attend on an ongoing basis building on the knowledge they gain from each class, explains Carol Marcusen, LCSW, BCD, director of social services and patient education at the cancer facility. (For information on reaching caregivers who can’t attend classes, see story below.)
The Prepared Family Caregiver for Cancer course is split into two sessions and offered on weekday evenings at the Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute in Columbus, OH. Participants who would like additional hands-on help can attend a two-hour skills laboratory the third week. Lab time might cover mobility and home safety, managing medical bills, infection prevention, nonmedical interventions for pain, personal care, or community resources. "We let them choose which one they want, then we rank the importance and usually cover about four modules," says Susan Scrichfield, MSW, MA, coordinator of consumer health education at the cancer hospital.
Equally important to finding a convenient class time is reaching those who might benefit from a caregiver’s course. The best method is to broadly broadcast publicity, says Scrichfield. Therefore, she advertises in local newspapers, as well as campus and hospital publications, puts flyers in patient areas and rooms, alerts the local oncology community, and provides information on the hospital’s closed-circuit TV and on the information line.
Because caregivers have little time to spare when caring for a cancer patient, it is important to offer a class that is truly beneficial, says Marcusen. "When they do take time away, they want to get as much as they can out of a class."
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