A frail elder without the family caregiver won't make it, but if you don't have a sense of who that family caregiver is you don't know what is needed. Assessment is an intelligent step.

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The idea is that the family is in some way able to choose from a kind of menu of what would be helpful to them.

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This identifies the caregiver as a recipient of care and essentially as much of a patient as the frail elder. That makes perfect sense. The physician doesn't have the resources, the connections. If there was a clear referral path, they would be willing to do it.

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