family caregivers

Maine Has A Plan To Help Family Caregivers. Other States Should Follow

Family caregivers are overwhelmed, usually untrained, and often under enormous financial stress. If they are lucky, they have a community to help support them. But unless those receiving care are on Medicaid, they get little help from government. Now, Maine has begun a program aimed at helping family members care for aging or disabled relatives and help themselves. Called “Respite [...]

By |2022-12-15T15:02:15-05:00December 15th, 2022|family caregivers|0 Comments

Families Must Provide More Medical Care At Home, But With Little Training

More than ever, family members are required to play a major role in caring for their loved ones. But they are being asked to do increasingly complex medical tasks with little or no training. The result: Greater risk to patients and enormous avoidable stress for those family caregivers. A new study attempts to identify the barriers to good caregiver training. [...]

By |2022-05-23T11:53:03-04:00May 23rd, 2022|family caregivers|0 Comments

Aging in Place Is All The Rage, But It Is Not Easy

It has become increasingly popular to promote home as a setting for both sophisticated medical treatment and long-term care, and often for good reason. But supporters of this trend need to recognize and reduce the burden it places on families who must take on ever-challenging clinical and organizational roles to make home care work. Hospital at Home; SNF (Skilled Nursing [...]

By |2022-03-21T13:50:40-04:00March 21st, 2022|family caregivers, Uncategorized|0 Comments

Is Supporting Family Caregivers Good For the Economy?

The congressional proposal to increase federal funding for Medicaid’s home and community-based (HCBS) long-term care program likely would benefit the US economy, although it could increase costs for those not receiving Medicaid. The HCBS expansion is included in the current House version of  President Biden’s Build Back Better (BBB) social spending, climate, and tax plan. Sen Joe Manchin (D-WV) and [...]

By |2021-12-14T15:17:20-05:00December 14th, 2021|family caregivers|0 Comments

House Democrats Restore Paid Family Leave To The Big Social Spending Bill, But For How Long?

After much back-and-forth, House Democrats decided to include a scaled-back version of a family and medical leave plan in their nearly $2 trillion version of the Build Back Better social spending bill. The measure would give families up to four weeks of leave a year to care for relatives who are ill, including those who need long-term personal assistance. The [...]

By |2021-11-05T10:20:17-04:00November 5th, 2021|family caregivers|0 Comments

The High Price Family Caregivers Pay

I was a caregiver for my dad. It was extremely rewarding. And incredibly difficult. It was, in fact, the hardest thing I ever have done. Many family care partners pay a high physical, emotional, and financial price for what they do. Now, as Congress is debating major policy changes aimed at making the lives of family caregivers easier, we are [...]

By |2021-10-01T10:35:16-04:00October 1st, 2021|family caregivers|0 Comments

Covid-19 Has Made Caregiving Harder, But Isn’t Making Americans More Likely To Plan For Their Old Age

The covid-19 pandemic has increased the burden on family caregivers and made Americans more insistent than ever on receiving their own care at home, rather than in a long-term care facility. Yet, they are in more denial than before the pandemic about the likelihood they or a loved one will need  personal assistance at some time in their lives. As [...]

By |2020-10-27T11:49:02-04:00October 14th, 2020|family caregivers|0 Comments

Coronavirus Is Changing The Way We Care For Frail Older Adults

The coronavirus pandemic and the fast-moving federal response to it is upending long-standing rules and practices for caring for older adults. Some changes will be incredibly disruptive, while others may   increase support for vulnerable seniors. Here are some of the ways they are affecting how we care for our parents. No more nursing home visits. Just a week ago, the [...]

By |2020-03-16T09:47:45-04:00March 16th, 2020|family caregivers|2 Comments

Compassion Isn’t Enough For Family Caregivers. They Need Training Too.

Family members and friends are the bedrock of our system of personal care for frail older adults and younger people with disabilities. Without their support, the nation’s hospitals and nursing homes would be filled to the rafters with very sick, frail seniors. And many of those older adults would die before their time. Those family caregivers often provide assistance with [...]

By |2020-01-14T10:05:45-05:00January 14th, 2020|family caregivers|0 Comments

Policymakers Still Are Not Paying Attention To The Needs Of Frail Elders And Their Families

Nearly all of the Democratic presidential hopefuls have proposed or supported plans to create a federal family leave program that would include those who are caring for frail parents or other relatives. That’s gratifying. It’s too bad that in this week’s debate, all but Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) appear to have forgotten the fact. They were happy to chime in [...]

By |2019-11-22T11:10:22-05:00November 22nd, 2019|family caregivers|0 Comments