Caregivers - the red thread across social and health care
Aid and attention are usually given to patients in healthcare, or
to clients in social service organisations. However, when we step back to look at the journey of patients or clients, we begin to see Caregivers who are always alongside them throughout these care journeys.
Family Caregivers are the main care coordinators, acting as a red thread, trying to tie together the fragmented pieces of their family member’s care across several different touch points: clinicians, hospital
stays, polyclinic visits, dealing with social service agencies and other community services. They are the ones that link the key transitions between care touch points and home or everyday life.
Who cares for the caregiver? Who cares for the future of caregiving?
To answer these questions, we set out on a user centric
design ethnography process to understand the needs, values, hopes and fears of Caregivers. We journeyed with ten diverse caregivers between the ages of 21 to 78. We interviewed and video-shadowed these ten Caregivers caring for the most complex cases;
meaning taking care of either a care recipient with a mental illness, or more than one care recipient, or a care recipient with multiple issues, or caring for someone while they care for themselves. Through the process, we began to unearth the needs,
wants and challenges faced by these caregivers as they went about their daily lives. The insights are translated into opportunity areas where we could work to fill the void and make the experience of Caregiving a more enriching and less painful one.
The Outputs
The publication and toolkit are the culmination of the design ethnographic process. However the journey continues as the concept ideas featured in the publication are ripe for further development. We invite you to contact us online or email Pumpkinlab@ncss.gov.sg if you are interested in being a part of creating a better future of Caregiving.
Please also fill up this form before downloading the publication and the toolkit.
"Who Cares?" Publication
The publication presents nine key insights from the research and how they translate towards a future vision of caregiving. This vision is articulated as an actionable design strategy, visualised through seven concept maps that can inform innovation
and drive implementation of near, mid and long term solutions.
You can also scan the QR codes found within the pages to experience the myriad of emotions that our caregivers feel through their videos.
"We Care" Toolkit
If you are a healthcare worker, social service professional, volunteer, or basically anyone who cares for caregivers, we have developed a toolkit with a set of tools to help you spark conversations and aid in caring for them.
English Version | Malay Version |
Chinese Version | Tamil Version
Please also visit our partner consultancy, Fuelfor’s Who Cares microsite, at http://www.fuelfor.net/caregiving.
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