Caregiver Summit December 2023

Millions of caregivers provide critical support across the United States – from caring for aging parents and children with special health care needs  to connecting individuals with critical resources. All caregivers across the spectrum are essential to ensuring that individuals achieve health and well-being with dignity. And while caregivers have long been the pillars of families and communities, their lived experience and cultural relevance continue to be undervalued.

Consequently, caregivers – who are often women and women of color – face constant obstacles, including unfair pay, inequitable hiring practices, and lack of opportunities for professional advancement. As we collectively face one of the biggest health and economic crises in modern history, caregivers – whose contributions are more critical than ever – and their allies have an opportunity to make a strong, collective case for change.

The National Caregiver Summit is a two-day, interactive virtual event that will foster learning and collaboration while driving advocacy and action on key issues that impact all caregivers.

Summit Design

A central tenet of the Summit is to bring the caregiver voice to the forefront throughout the entire conference – including design of the day of learning. Composed of a diverse group of caregivers, organizations that advocate for and empoy caregivers, and funders, the Design Team has come together over several months to share their experiences and identify critical challenges and opportunities caregivers face. Through these discussions, the Design team created the Summit’s goals, determined the learning agenda, and identified and helped recruit panelists and participants.

2021 Session Recordings

Welcome & Keynote

Equity Track

This track focuses on supporting caregivers across the spectrum by addressing strategies to build workforce sustainability, while ensuring equitable hiring practices, professional development, paid leave, access to respite care and career pathways that advocate to share power with caregivers.

Policy Track

This track evaluates and identifies existing solutions to caregiving, through the complex lens of the local and national policy landscape. It demonstrates the value of centering caregivers’ expertise, especially lived experience, when developing equitable and sustainable policy solutions.

Innovation Track

This track aims to reimagine care that promotes equity and sustainability by considering tools, technology and trainings.

Closing Plenary

National Caregiver Coalition

In May 2021, Health Leads and our partners launched the National Caregiver Summit, which was designed by caregivers for caregivers. Across the country, caregivers and their advocates called for action on key issues that impact all caregivers. The result was an engaged community that recognized their similarities in opportunities and challenges, especially regarding caregiver health and well-being, with financial sustainability as a top priority.

In response to priorities uplifted during the 2021 Caregiver Summit, Health Leads is facilitating the Caregiver Coalition – a group of caregivers, including institutional partners – to spend 14 months collectively tackling the issue of financial sustainability.

Goals of the Caregiver Coalition include:

• Creatively collaborate and work towards a solution
• Keep the broader caregiver community engaged and maintain excitement for the 2023 Caregiver Summit
• Leverage the summit to bring the community together and share progress made to date on coalition goals
• Help recruit and onboard new coalition members

TIMELINE AND KEY MILESTONES