Family Care Responders - 2023 09 30

 


Everyday work is being assigned to millions of private citizens that entails life and death decisions, health and safety risk, and operations management on behalf of the health care system. 

This work assignment is done during a family health crisis when family members are responding to a family emergency when a family member is no longer able to fend for themselves. The scope of the work is only partially defined - typically the specific instructions from the health provider to dispense medication, oversee therapy, and, in some cases, carry out wound management or other medical maintenance tasks.

The undefined scope of the work assumes the family care responders will ensure the needs for shelter, transportation, clothing, food, financial security, emotional and mental health, social connection and personal care are provided. 

There is no process of formal work assignment. There is no framework for organizing the work - planning, traceability, accountability, reporting. For example, using SMART Goals or OKRs:

SMART Goals

  1. Specific: target a particular area for improvement  
  2. Measurable: quantify or suggest progress metrics  
  3. Achievable: ensure you can achieve your goals with the given resources  
  4. Realistic: outline what results you can feasibly achieve using the available resources  
  5. Timely: highlight when your goal should be achieved  

or 

OKR methodology (Objectives and Key Results)

  1. Objectives - concise, qualitative, captivating - aspirational outcomes
  2. Key Results - quantifiable, time-bound - traceable, accountable

The family care responders, during the event of a health crisis, are assigned work for which there is no organization, no framework, no systemic support, and no guidance. Because work is assigned and deliverables are assumed and unspecified, there is no planning, traceability, accountability or reporting included in the protocol for assigning this work.

The risk to family care responders is enormous and life changing. The willingness of families to respond to family health crisis is starting to erode as more and more stories of the difficulty and enormity of family caregiving are shared through social media. 

We need to organize families to be prepared as a team of family care responders in the same way we organize for other societal emergencies - a family health crisis should be treated as having the same impact as a natural disaster (fire, flood, earthquake). This is a social health emergency that will affect every household.

We need a system of family care responders who take up the work of family caregiving with the same organizational protocols that we use in any professional setting. We need to ensure the work of family caregiving is supported by systems of financial, mental and emotional, and tactical resources.

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