Our member Suzanne Mintz, a Family Caregiver Advocate, shares the link to her Narrative Matters article/podcast in the current issue of Health Affairs:

The Double Helix: When The System Fails The Intertwined Needs Of Caregiver And Patient

www.healthaffairs.org/narrative-matters/

The policy recommendations for improving care for families living with multiple chronic conditions include:

• Document primary family caregivers in their loved one’s medical record (and their own) as a first step toward recognizing them as members of their loved one’s care team.
• Base care plans on patient and family goals and create them as longitudinal and evolving documents that follow the reality of a patient’s condition.
• Treat patients with multiple chronic conditions and their primary caregiver as a single unit of care, reflecting the interwoven nature of their relationship and the impact of one person’s situation on that of the other.