Thriving: Family and Caregiver Support
We know from decades of research that effective family and caregiver involvement in a patient’s treatment supports patient recovery, improves social connections and decreases mental health crises. It also improves family and caregiver well-being and can lead to lower healthcare utilization and costs. Despite their desire to help, many caregivers don’t have access to education, skills training or resources to step into this critical, unpaid role. Mollie Forrester, MSW, LICSW, will talk about the importance of family and caregiver involvement in a loved one’s mental health care and how UW Medicine’s new Family and Caregiver Training and Support (FACTS) program can help.
Speakers
Mollie Forrester, MSW, LICSW
Director, Patient and Family Experience, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Director, Family and Caregiver Training and Support (FACTS) Program, UW Medicine
Mollie Forrester is a licensed clinical social worker with over twenty-five years of experience in healthcare settings. She received her Master of Social Work degree from the UW School of Social Work and spent nearly a decade providing direct service to patients and families in mental health supportive housing and on inpatient psychiatry at Harborview Medical Center. Mollie later served as an Associate Director of Harborview’s Social Work Department before joining the department in 2019.
Mollie is developing a new service: the Family and Caregiver Training and Support Program (FACTS) being piloted at the Center for Behavioral Health and Learning. FACTS will be a hub of mental health information and training for families and caregivers of patients as well as for the interdisciplinary care team.
As the Director of Patient and Family Experience, Mollie works directly with patients and families who are currently receiving mental health care at UW Medicine clinics or hospitals or are looking to do so. Mollie manages our team of Mental Health Navigators as part of our statewide provider and patient consultation lines, including the Psychiatry Consultation Line, the Perinatal Psychiatry Consultation Line, and the Mental Health CareConnect programs.
When she is not at work, Mollie enjoys travel, live music, gardening and spending time with family and friends.