Resources Needed to Operate a Support Group Program
The resources required to operate the support group program will consist of caregivers who will be the primary in ensuring the patients’ concerns are addressed. The other help would be a home for the elderly and several automobiles responsible for the necessary transportation needs (Casado, van Vulpen, and Davis, 2011). Time is also another significant resource that would allow caregivers to deal sufficiently with the patient’s concerns.
The Program Activities
Support group programs offer a wide range of activities for the elderly to ensure that their health outcomes and mental health are improved and minimize isolation and enhance life’s quality of life. Among the activities provided by the support group would be senior centers, healthy eating habits, transportation, and homemaker, to name a few. Garg et al. (2012) show that any person receives only a limited range of services that do not replace family or formal caregiving. Therefore, through the activities, the elderly will be able to receive case management services, legal assistance, and counseling services that will encapsulate the support required by the older population.
The Desired Outcomes
The primary desired outcome for the support group program would be to ensure the physical and mental health of the patients improve. Providing the mentioned services would become possible to educate this population on its rights while offering the necessary support to any challenge they may face. Secondary outcomes would see an increase in the number of older people benefiting from the program and an increase in independent adults capable of carrying out their responsibilities with minimal help.
Plan for Gathering Information Concerning the Served Population
In an era where the use of smartphones is on the rise, preliminary information concerning the served caregivers will acquire from the population through online questionnaires sent to the population’s emails. However, for the sake of secondary data, the team will conduct reviews on existing and past information on the role of support group programs in improving the health of the aged. Other secondary approaches would entail acquiring valuable information from government officials and health and human service providers.
Justifications for the Program’s Decisions and Plans
Including various stakeholders in the program’s plans and decisions would play a significant help in the identification of the specific needs essential for the caregivers to connect with the needs of the patients. Further, incorporating the appropriate agencies in the decision-making process and planning of the support program will allow for the acquisition of effective interventions that would assist in minimizing burden and stress and enhancing the patients’ family life.
The evaluator will conduct a follow-up to the needs assessment at the implementation stage of the program’s review. The evaluation will be through two surveys. In the first survey, patients will be queried on the services provided regarding the program’s effectiveness, their opinion, and recommendations on what might be incorporated to improve the already existing services (Tutty & Rothery, 2010). The second survey will be directed to the caregivers. Similarly, the caregivers will consider the opinions to establish what might have been missed while setting up the program. Through the recommendations by the caregivers, it will then become possible to improve the services provided to enhance the services provided to the patients. Conceptualizing any potential weaknesses associated with the program as relative needs will then facilitate the development of a needs evaluation model for gathering information. The approach will become the first way of accomplishing the assessment.
References
Casado, B. L., van Vulpen, K. S, and Davis, S. L. (2011). Unmet needs for home and community-based services among frail older Americans and their caregivers. Journal of Aging and Health, 23(3), 529–553.
Garg, A., Sandel, M., Dworkin, P. H., Kahn, R. S., and Zuckerman, B. (2012). From medical home to health neighborhood: transforming the medical home into a community-based health neighborhood. Journal of Pediatrics, 160(4), 535–536.
Tutty, L. M., & Rothery, M. A. (2010). Needs assessments. In B. Thyer (Ed.), The handbook of Social Work Research Methods (2nd ed., pp. 149–162). Sage.