University of Missouri-Kansas City’s Institute for Human Development (UMKC-IHD), Missouri’s University Center of Excellence for Developmental Disabilities has developed and completed a pilot program called WE❤CARE: A Curriculum for Caregivers with Developmental Disabilities, to help those with disabilities provide caregiving support for an aging loved one.
WE❤CARE is an eight-week curriculum, developed in partnership with the Association on Aging with Developmental Disabilities and funded by the Missouri Developmental Disabilities Council.
University of Missouri-Kansas City’s Institute for Human Development (UMKC-IHD), Missouri’s University Center of Excellence for Developmental Disabilities has developed and completed a pilot program called WE❤CARE: A Curriculum for Caregivers with Developmental Disabilities, to help those with disabilities provide caregiving support for an aging loved one.
WE❤CARE is an eight-week curriculum, developed in partnership with the Association on Aging with Developmental Disabilities and funded by the Missouri Developmental Disabilities Council. The project comes in response to the growing number of mutual caregivers throughout the country. The long-term goal is to increase the ability of both family members to support each other and prolong mutual caregivers’ abilities to age in place. Nationwide, there is a lack of information, support and resources available to guide caregivers with developmental disabilities in a mutual caregiving arrangement – a scenario where adults with DD become more responsible for providing care to an aging loved one.
The Association on Aging with Developmental Disabilities subcontracted with UMKC-IHD to create, implement, and evaluate the WE❤CARE curriculum and program, which includes a facilitator guide, eight modules with corresponding handouts and activities, pre/post evaluations, and additional supportive materials and resources.
The efficacy of the program is promising. With the pilot, participants learned to recognize when their loved one might need support. In addition, they developed greater confidence in providing support, as demonstrated through a confidence assessment administered before and after participation that showed a statistically significant increase in confidence from pre- to post-test (p< 0.05).
As the population ages, mutual caregiving relationships will become more common, and the knowledge and skill sets embedded in this curriculum can support the growing number of mutual caregivers throughout the country. Find out more at www.wecare-curriculum.org.
Funding for WE❤CARE, an Innovation in Supporting Aging Adults with Developmental Disabilities project in Missouri provided by the Missouri Developmental Disabilities Council, was supported by the Administration for Community Living (ACL), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of a financial assistance award totaling $1,361,246 with 100 percent funding by ACL/HHS. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by ACL/HHS, or the U.S. Government.
