SAN FRANCISCO, June 26, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Family Caregiver Alliance (FCA) is pleased to announce the launch of its newly redesigned website at www.caregiver.org.
FCA has long been a respected source for reliable information on the complex issues of long-term care and family caregiving. The streamlined website offers new and enhanced features that provide improved access to resources, publications, advice, research, policy reports, a living/care community directory and more, for use by caregivers, healthcare providers, academics, legislative staff, media, and professional care providers.
New and Enhanced FCA Website Features:
- NEW: The website offers information organized by caregiving situations and needs—from new caregivers to those facing a loved one's advanced illness and complicated care demands and decisions.
- Updated Family Care Navigator: a free service of the National Center on Caregiving at FCA, this interactive database offers information on caregiver programs and services throughout the country.
- Caregiver statistics and other demographic and statistical information.
- Fact Sheets on health conditions such as Alzheimer's disease, stroke, and brain injury, as well as detailed information on caregiving strategies, residential options, end-of-life decisions, caregiver stress, legal/financial information and more, in multiple languages.
- Checklists and Tip Sheets offering practical advice on common caregiver concerns (e.g., dental care, incontinence, downsizing a home, hospital discharge planning, and more).
- Recorded and upcoming caregiving webinars, and links to instructional videos on our YouTube channel, including Safe at Home: A Caregiver's Guide to Caring for a Dementia Patient at Home (produced in partnership with the Pat Summitt Foundation), and our Caregiver College Series, offering practical tips for hands-on care.
- Streamlined access to training manuals, research, and policy reports, including Caregiving Across the States: 50 State Profiles, and information on evidence-based and emerging practices in our Program Development section.
- NEW: Caregiver Connect, a web section expediting connections to FCA, to care resources, as well as to other caregivers and their Caregiving Stories.
- NEW: National Residential Care Search of assisted or independent living facilities, continuing care communities, home care agencies and more, in conjunction with Caring.com (tool located on FCA's homepage).
According to FCA Executive Director Kathleen Kelly, "We were one of the first social service organizations in the country to have an online presence, and we continue to make every effort to keep up with caregiver needs and new technology so we remain trend-setters in this area. We have thousands of pages of content that span the spectrum of caregiving, and we're proud of our reorganized site that makes all that information easier and faster to access.
"We're deeply grateful to the Stavros Niarchos Foundation for their generous help in making this new site a reality. And we're grateful to the hundreds of thousands of families and caregivers each year who connect with us and who make our work so worthwhile."
Founded in 1977, Family Caregiver Alliance was the first community-based nonprofit organization in the U.S. created to address the needs of caregivers. FCA and its National Center on Caregiving are now nationally and internationally recognized for pioneering programs—information, education, research and advocacy—that support and sustain the important work of families and friends caring for loved ones with chronic, disabling health conditions. Visit www.caregiver.org or call (800) 445-8106 for more information.
We extend sincere thanks to the Stavros Niarchos Foundation for a grant allowing us to redesign our website. The funds received from SNF not only allowed us to refocus our caregiver content, but also to implement a more user-friendly content management system, and develop communication channels to better support family caregivers. With the generosity of grantors like the Stavros Niarchos Foundation, FCA is able to keep family caregivers educated, aware, and equipped with the tools and resources they need to care successfully for their loved ones.