People caring for family and friends who require assistance with physical care, emotional support or help around the house can access free, skills-based learning through the North Carolina Caregiver Portal.
Approximately 1 in 4 adults in North Carolina provide regular care or support to an older adult with a long-term illness or disability, meaning there are between 1.4 and 1.7 million unpaid family caregivers in the state. The Caregiver Portal is the only clinically validated eLearning program for family caregivers and is available for free to all North Carolinians. It includes self-paced, skills-based modules on topics ranging from dementia and daily care tasks to self-care for caregivers. The portal also connects caregivers to state and regional resources such as caregiver support programs, community-based services and support groups.
“Often, family and friends enter the caregiver role with little to no warning, or training,” said Joyce Massey-Smith, Director of the Division of Aging and Adult Services. “Through the Caregiver Portal they are able to quickly access valuable content at no-cost, helping them to better support their loved one and themselves.”
Following the end of their regular season, the UNC-Chapel Hill Men’s Basketball players partnered with Trualta, which provides the portal in partnership with NCDHHS, to launch a special Instagram series to support caregivers across the state. In its first week, the partnership helped NCDHHS reach 5% more caregivers through the portal.
“North Carolina is renowned as an innovative state in the aging network, but this partnership demonstrates their commitment to reaching caregivers in new ways,” said Leda Rosenthal, Trualta’s Director of Growth.
To access the N.C. Caregiver Portal and sign up for free resources, visit: https://get.nc-caregivers.com/basketball/