2024 National Lifespan Respite Conference

Call for Presentations

Deadline for Abstract Proposal Submissions: October 16, 2023

Please read the instructions for completing the online application.

The New York State Caregiving and Respite Coalition and the New York State Office for the Aging, in collaboration with the ARCH National Respite Network and Resource Center, will host the 2024 National Lifespan Respite Conference in Albany, NY, on May 21-23, 2024. The conference will be preceded by the Lifespan Respite Grantee and Partner Learning Symposium (by invitation only) on May 21, 2024.

The theme for the conference, RAISE the Bar for Respite, Strategies for strengthening family caregivers, is meant to be timely and inspirational. Coming on the heels of the 2022 release of the National Strategy to Support Family Caregivers by the Administration for Community Living, the theme is a call to action. The National Strategy was developed jointly by the RAISE Family Caregiving Advisory Council and the Advisory Council to Support Grandparents Raising Grandchildren, with extensive input from the public, including family caregivers and the people they support. The report includes nearly 500 actions that can be adopted at every level of government and across the public and private sectors, including actions that each of us can take, to advance supports currently in place to strengthen the nation’s more than 53 million family caregivers.

In keeping with our individual and collective responsibility to advance the recommended respite actions in the National Strategy, the conference will provide the space and energy to lift up best practices in respite care; elevate our commitment to ensuring diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility in all our work; boost innovative public and private sector approaches to expand support for working caregivers; escalate new strategies to grow respite capacity to meet the ever-increasing need; step up action to address the direct care workforce crisis; and increase our commitment to ensure that respite services are person and family-centered.

The conference focus is on Respite, but our driving intention is to strengthen and support family caregivers, who are the backbone of the nation’s long-term services and supports system. The conference will provide opportunities to RAISE the Bar for Research, Advocacy, Innovation, Services and Supports, and Education in the respite care field.

Submit Your Abstract

Online Form

Please be sure to read the Call for Presentations in full for more information about the Conference Audience, Presentation Formats, Topic Suggestions for each track, AV Equipment, Presenter Registration, Instructions for completing the online proposal form, and Dates to Remember.

Read more about the Conference Tracks.

Questions? Please contact Doris Green at the New York State Caregiving and Respite Coalition at dgreen@lifespan-roch.org or Jill Kagan with ARCH at jkagan@archrespite.org with any questions.

Presentation Tracks

We are looking for presentation proposals that focus on respite care, but cross over multiple disciplines, reflecting the wide range of options required and utilized by caregivers across the lifespan. Proposals should target one of five topical tracks or the Lifespan Respite Track described below. Following each topic description are questions to help you think about possible session ideas, but you are not limited to these. We encourage you to show how your work RAISES the Bar for Respite and aligns with National Strategy Goals. Be bold!

The National Strategy to Support Family Caregivers proposes five main goals:

GOAL 1: Increase awareness and outreach

GOAL 2: Build partnerships and engagement

GOAL 3: Strengthen services and supports

GOAL 4: Ensure financial and workplace security

GOAL 5: Expand data, research, and evidence-based practices

The following presentation tracks align with the National Strategy’s five goals and RAISE the Bar for Respite:

R - Research and Evaluate

As service providers and caregivers make a case for respite availability and funding, a solid evidence-base for respite is essential. Research provides an understanding of the health and well-being of family caregivers and the overall effect of respite on societal outcomes, including cost-benefits. Good data collection is important for continuous quality improvement in the respite we provide. This track is intended to present findings from evaluations of lifespan respite activities, respite models, alternative respite and support interventions, strategies for meaningful performance measurement, and practices to assure diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility in all research and evaluation efforts.

Aligns with Goal 5

A - Advocate, Network and Sustain

We have come to understand that our collective efforts to sustain the important work we do in caregiving and respite is inextricably linked to the changing economic, social and political environment as well as to successful networking strategies and partnerships, especially with diverse, marginalized and underresourced groups. Presentations may explore financing strategies for sustainability, unique partnerships, successful coalitions, legislative advocacy, and other elevated contexts for providing, promoting and sustaining respite.

Aligns with Goal 2

I - Innovate Services, Systems and Workforce Strategies

This track is designed to highlight successful models, innovations, and exemplary approaches to providing planned and crisis respite care for all ages, disability groups, and diverse populations. Newly raised and non-traditional approaches to respite for all populations can also be shared.

Proposals that focus on real-life solutions to the nationwide shortage of well-trained direct care workers and respite providers are also welcome. Sessions should focus on ways to boost caregiver confidence in respite, including training to improve the safety and quality of care, and strategies to increase the pool of reliable, qualified, and culturally and linguistically competent respite providers and care options.

Aligns with Goal 3

S - Support Working Caregivers

A significant majority of family caregivers, at least 60 percent, are in the labor force, but to enable them to continue to work and provide care, a more responsive and supportive workplace is needed. Not only are the health and financial well-being of these caregivers at-risk, businesses may be losing billions of dollars annually from lost productivity, replacement costs for employees who quit because of overwhelming caregiving responsibilities, absenteeism, and workday interruptions. This track is intended to explore successful strategies to ensure respite and other caregiver supports are available and accessible to working caregivers.

Aligns with Goal 4

E - Educate and Engage Family Caregivers

E – Educate and Engage Family Caregivers

This track is geared toward family caregivers and those who work with family caregivers who want to learn more about successful caregiving strategies, meaningful respite, resources that support caregivers, and impactful stories related to the benefits of respite and caregiver wellness programs. This track also seeks sessions in which family caregivers share what they imagine their dream respite might be.

Service providers are encouraged to share how they engage family caregivers to use respite services as well as participate in respite and caregiving coalitions, planning, advocacy and evaluation. Successful public awareness campaigns, new messaging techniques and technologies, and strategies to engage diverse and marginalized communities are welcome.

Aligns with Goal 1

RAISE the Lifespan Respite Track

RAISE the Lifespan Respite Track

This track may be of particular interest to Lifespan Respite grantees and their partners to highlight their service delivery and systems change grant activities. Through the federal Lifespan Respite Program, the U.S. Administration for Community Living awards competitive grants to state agencies in partnership with state respite coalitions and others to develop statewide coordinated systems of community-based respite services for family caregivers; provide gap-filling planned and emergency respite; and build respite capacity through provider training and recruitment and new volunteer and faith-based initiatives.

Current and former Lifespan Respite grantees and their partners are encouraged to submit a proposal for the Lifespan Respite Track that describes best practices, program successes, and challenges experienced in their Lifespan Respite grant implementation or coalition activities. Some topics in this track might include:

Innovative service delivery
Effects of changes to respite or grant activities as a result of the pandemic
Collaborative partnerships (e.g., with No Wrong Door Systems and Aging and Disability Resource Centers, employers, medical community or managed care organizations)
Respite registries
Engaging volunteers or the faith community
Respite provider training and recruitment
Public awareness and messaging to engage diverse populations
Ensuring Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility in respite services
Defining a coordinated Lifespan Respite system for improved respite access that links family caregivers to services, respite funding sources, and information
Sustainability plans
Fact-finding and data management

Aligns with all five goals.

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