United Hospital Fund: Next Step in Care¶
Next Step in Care is a United Hospital Fund program that publishes free guides to help family caregivers and health care providers plan and carry out transitions between care settings, such as hospital to home, hospital to a rehab facility, or the start or end of home care agency services.1
The program's Guides & Checklists section lists separate guide sets for family caregivers and for health care providers, plus guides for family caregivers translated into Spanish, Chinese, and Russian.1 Guide topics for family caregivers include hospital discharge planning, short-term rehabilitation, and using electronic organizers, monitors, sensors, and apps as caregiving tools.1
United Hospital Fund produced a guide to New York State's CARE Act for patients and caregivers, explaining what a caregiver can expect to be asked by hospital staff and what discharge instructions they are entitled to receive.1 New York and more than 30 other states have passed versions of the CARE (Caregiver Advise, Record, and Enable) Act, which requires hospitals to include family caregivers in discharge planning and give them post-discharge training; the caregiver guide cited here covers New York State's law specifically, so caregivers in other states should confirm their own state's requirements.1
Caregivers can reach the program by email at [email protected].1 The program's page does not list a caregiver phone line.
United Hospital Fund: Next Step in Care addresses domain GC5 (Navigation) by giving family caregivers structured guides for coordinating care transitions with hospitals, rehab facilities, and home care agencies.1