The National Family Caregiver Support Program (NFCSP) is a relatively new Older Americans Act (OAA) program administered and implemented through the Aging Service Network comprised of State Units on Aging (SUA), Area Agencies on Aging (AAA) and Local Service Providers (LSP). The NFCSP provides a multifaceted system of support services to family caregivers and grandparents or older family members caring for related children. Through the NFCSP, caregivers receive training/education related to their caregiving roles; respite care to enable caregivers to temporarily relieve caregivers from their caregiving responsibilities; and supplemental services on a limited basis, to complement the care provided by caregivers. The program also provides information to caregivers about available services and assistance to caregivers in gaining access to the services. This will be the first federal evaluation of the NFCSP outcomes for caregivers and their care recipients since the program was established with the 2000 authorization of Title III-E. The outcome evaluation will conduct telephone interviews at three points in time (baseline, 6 months later, and 12 months later) with a sample of 1,250 caregivers receiving NFCSP services and with a matched comparison group of 1,250 caregivers not receiving NFCSP services. Both caregiver surveys will collect information on the time spent on caregiving activities, an inventory of caregiving tasks, knowledge and use of formal services, perceptions of the helpfulness of those services, perceptions of delayed institutionalization, and the personal impact of caregiving. The outcome evaluation will also conduct a seven-question telephone survey with the care recipients of both the NFCSP caregivers and the non-NFCSP caregivers, where feasible given the health status of the care recipient, at the baseline and 12 months later. The baseline and 12-month surveys will ask care recipients about their general well-being, the extent to which the caregiver helps them remain at home, and whether the caregiver is receiving the help needed to care for them.
The primary purpose of this study is to better understand how the OAA Title III-E NFCSP addresses the program's goal of helping famliy caregivers by providing services and support that best meet their needs and preferences to enhance their caregiving to the greatest extent possible.
This collection is related to the process evaluation (OMB-0985-0038) which was approved earlier this year. This is the outcome portion of ACL's evaluation.
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Comparison group care recipients - 12 month followup