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Century Tree Content: Helping Patients
 Century Tree Health Education produces videos, applications and internet content to promote effective daily management of chronic diseases, including type II diabetes, congestive heart failure, COPD, and dementia. All Century Tree programs share two goals:
  • Facilitate patient stability and, if possible, better health.
  • Control health related costs, especially those costs associated with avoidable hospitalizations.

  • Our Audience

    Family caregivers & home health workers are Century Tree’s intended audience. Family & paraprofessional caregivers are self-selected for their devotion to caring for others.

    Proof lies in the well-fed, clean patients who live in tidy homes all over the country. With their diligence, competence & unique everyday access to patients, they are the obvious choice for managing the daily clinical needs of their family members & patients.

    Two female caregivers looking directly into the camera

  • Toward that end, our content focuses on the two greatest drivers of avoidable cost and suffering in chronic disease management, if not all of American medical care:


    • Medication non-adherence.
    • Neglected warning signs, & failure to promptly report them to doctors when they arise.

  • To transform caregivers into chronic disease managers, Century Tree produces content that is actionable.

    Teaching points are intended for caregivers who lack formal clinical training, and may have limited education. Century Tree offers them patient care techniques that embody:

    • Simplicity — All CareGivingLife disease management techniques are easy to understand and implement.
    • Efficiency — No technique takes more than a few minutes to perform.
    • Dependability — From the first time they use any Century Tree technique, HHWs and family caregivers will be confident that they will succeed.
    A line drawing of a seated man holding a metered dose inhaler

  • Our Focus

    Century Tree focuses on medical issues that offer opportunities for high impact in distressed communities. Prevalence of virtually all diseases is dramatically higher among economically disadvantaged Americans. When they get sick, members of this group have great difficulty participating effectively in treatment for themselves and their family members.
  • We don't lend our efforts to improving care for populations who are already healthy and involved in their own health. While improving health for anyone offers profound benefit, its economic benefits do not always outweigh costs. For example, improving cardiac prophylaxis for already health conscious, affluent Americans could cost more than the relatively small number of acute care treatments it prevents.
In contrast, improving medication adherence among lower income CHF patients with limited education would significantly reduce the number of avoidable hospitalizations, and the draconian costs that accompany them.

We Believe 
Chronic Disease Management is a Daily Endeavor

Daily Lessons
Because chronic disease management is a daily endeavor, we believe that it is essential to offer daily content for the home health workers and family caregivers who bear so much responsibility. Teaching points are repeated - regularly, frequently, and for years. No one learns much from single or infrequent exposures to information. TheCareGivingLife asks caregivers to revisit specific disease management lessons repeatedly, and over time, to perpetually review and reinforce learning.

 

A Job Without a Supervisor
In light of their considerable responsibility, family caregivers and home health workers are in an unusual position: They are almost rarely supervised, or even observed working. This leaves them extremely vulnerable to ad hoc disease management protocol revisions stemming from self-perpetuating and progressively worsening inaccuracies, forgetfulness, or even a desire to improve their performance. Put more simply, left to their own devices for months on end, home health workers and family caregivers don’t have anyone to correct their mistakes. We guard against ‘slippery slope’ patterns of deviation. On a daily basis, Century Tree Content endeavors to get caregivers to recognize that first deviation, and nip it in the bud.

We Believe
 Our Caregivers Should be Celebrated

Just as importantly, family caregivers and home health workers are often isolated. They don’t have anyone to celebrate their profound efforts. If anyone is owed recognition, it is our caregivers. TheCareGivingLife celebrates home health workers and family caregivers because they deserve it. It is the right thing to do.

But there is another, more practical reason:

• Recognition improves morale.
• Improved morale improves performance.
• Improved home health worker and family caregiver performance improves patient outcomes.

We Believe
 In Being “User Friendly”

A cartoon image of the face of a frowning woman
Century Tree content can be described by what it is not: It isn’t ‘Med School Lite.’ We don’t ask caregivers to weed through lengthy, technical descriptions of illnesses, pathology and treatments. We think descriptions like that can be confusing and difficult to remember.

In contrast, Century Tree content is ‘user friendly.’ Whenever possible, we ask visitors to watch videos rather than read. Instead of offering a lot of technical information, those videos are fun, and usually funny, to watch. Most importantly, they are easy to understand, remember and put into use.

For audiences of middle-aged and elderly caregivers, not just in The United States but worldwide, no medium entertains and inspires better than commercial television. Like commercial TV shows, Century Tree programs make our audiences of family caregivers and home health workers laugh, and touch their hearts.

At the same time, chronic disease management teaching points are embedded in all content. HHW and family caregiver audiences will be invested in dramatic and funny episodes, making learning points vivid, indelible and inspiring.
A Pug dog stares directly at the camera

We Believe 
“Humor” is the best medicine

With humor, concise easy-to-understand explanations & words of encouragement, Century Tree content helps caregivers focus on the interventions that will keep their patients and family members safe, stable and out of the hospital.

We Believe
 Caregiving is Deeply Personal

There are few human activities more personal than caregiving and tending to the sick.

For many of us, caregiving is a function of our most deeply held spiritual, community, and family customs. With that in mind, much of Century Tree’s content is culture specific.

We hope that audiences will not just see themselves in Century Tree content, but the best of themselves.
A smiling female caregiver
Copyright ©2020 by Century Tree Health Education.
All rights reserved.
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