A time for me: A virtual program to engage African American caregivers

Abstract

To address the self-care needs of African American family caregivers, a community-engaged approach was used to develop and implement a half-day virtual self-care program. This study evaluates experiences of program attendees. All attendees were emailed an electronic survey containing Likert-type and open-ended questions. Responses were examined for patterns and key content-related categories using inductive content analysis. Eleven attendees responded to the survey. All 11 strongly agreed (64%) or agreed (36%) that the event met their expectations and/or needs. In addition to providing opportunity to take time to engage in self-care, the event created a virtual space for women to focus on themselves. Women spoke about three distinct ways the event met their needs: (1) learning and trying new things, (2) access to resources, and (3) having a shared experience. These findings suggest that virtual programs may be used as an additional resource to support the health of African American women caregivers.

Keywords:

• African American caregivers
• community engagement
• empowerment
• self-care
• tele-support

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank all the women that attended this Caring for the Caregivers event. We acknowledge the members of the coalition: St. Ann Center for Intergenerational Care-Bucyrus Campus, Legacy Home Health Services, Wisconsin Alzheimer’s Institute Regional Milwaukee Office, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Alzheimer’s Association Wisconsin Chapter, All of Us Research Program Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and Milwaukee County Department of Aging. We thank the other participating organizations: Embody Yoga, Blue Lotus Life, and Amri Counseling. We also thank Emily Ethington and Lourdes Galido for their assistance with data analyses. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated. AG contributed to this article in her personal capacity. The views expressed are her own and do not necessarily represent the views of the Wisconsin Department of Health Services.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, A.K., upon reasonable request.