Family Caregivers as Care Integrators: How can integrated care teams explicitly partner with family caregivers? 

Introduction: Practice guidelines and professional competencies recommend including family caregivers as true/valued partners in care teams, but care teams find it difficult to integrate family caregivers into the healthcare team. We define family caregivers broadly as caregivers, carers, unpaid or informal caregivers, care partners, chosen family, friends, or neighbors who support people who need care for mental and/or physical illnesses, disabilities, or frailty. In this workshop, we will explore barriers and facilitators from across the world to include family caregivers as partners in integrated care and consider ways to promote integration. Why this workshop? Most people with complex chronic conditions, disabilities, frailty, and age-related needs are supported by family caregivers. 90% of the care needed is provided by family caregivers. We rely on family caregivers to provide information and input, carry out interventions, monitor health, and manage crises. Engaging family caregivers improves outcomes for patient, the caregivers, the healthcare providers, and our system. Both patients and caregivers advocate for healthcare visits characterized by compassionate, empathic communication and shared decision-making. Despite professional competencies recommending collaborative care and active working relationships through person and family-centered care approaches, health and social care providers and their teams report they lack specific knowledge and skills to effectively and efficiently engage and support family caregivers. This gap highlights a critical area to create knowledge on how to incorporate caregivers as true/valued partners in integrated care teams. International comparisons may provide inspiration for ways to formalize family caregivers as partners. Who is it for? This workshop is for everyone with health and social care experience (professionals, academics, family caregivers, health and social care providers, leaders, policy makers) In this workshop, participants will: 1.Examine the barriers and facilitators of involving family caregivers as integral team members in the care process. 2.Brainstorm about/ Identify best practices how caregivers are and should be optimally supported as members of integrated health and social care teams. What are you going to do? 10 minutes: Introduction and review of conceptual frameworks 5 minutes: explanation of the World Café Process 35 minutes: World Café Discussion 10 minutes Summary Feedback Summarizing Engagement. We will facilitate 3 discussion groups: facilitators, barriers, and best practices to including caregivers as partners. Discussions will be recorded digitally and visually so that themes can be summarized by facilitators and discussed with participants during the session. The recordings will be transcribed, themed, and used to ideate a publication on the components of partnering with family caregivers.