The Double Helix

What is it about?

All Narrative Matters articles begin with a personal story and from that build policy recommendations. When I fell down the stairs and injured myself I was unable to be my husband's caregiver for a while. We needed help to dress him, get him out of bed and into his wheelchair, etc. There are no services in place to assist caregiving families in such a situation.

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Why is it important?

My policy recommendations to improve chronic illness care include: 1. Identifying family caregivers on medical records, assessing their needs and providing services to better equip family caregivers for their role on the car team while simultaneously monitoring their health and well being 2. Building and monitoring evolving care plan based on patient and family goals 3. Treating persons with multiple chronic conditions and their primary caregiver as a single unit of care - a dyad