State Legislation, Policy & Reports
New Jersey: Bill Introduced to Extend Family Leave Benefits
A bill (S.2249) to provide family leave benefits for workers caring for sick family members and newborn or newly adopted children was introduced in the New Jersey Senate. The current Temporary Disability Benefits law in New Jersey does not provide wage loss protection to workers who must take time off from work to provide care for a sick relative. This bill would amend that law by allowing workers to take up to twelve weeks of leave to care for a child, spouse, domestic partner, or parent with a "serious health condition." The bill was introduced by State Senator Stephen Sweeney (D) on October 16, 2006. For more information, visit:
New Jersey Legislation
Vermont: Medicaid Program that Pays Family Caregivers Allows More Elderly Residents to Live at Home
The Wall Street Journal examined Vermont's "Choices for Care" Medicaid program, in which Vermont residents can earn nearly $10 an hour to care for an elderly relative at home. Since the program was launched one year ago to find alternatives to institutional care, it "has achieved incremental results," the Journal reports. There are approximately 7% fewer people in nursing homes compared to one year ago, and there are more people receiving home care than one year ago. Elderly people in the program typically receive about 25 to 30 hours of care per week. In addition, about 500 Medicaid patients who are not yet eligible for nursing home care also received home care provided by family members through the program. For more information, visit:
Wall Street Journal-October 23, 2006
New Hampshire: Judges Turn to Professional Guardians for State's Elderly
The Union Leader reported that judges in New Hampshire have "begun relying on professional guardians to protect elderly people who are too sick to make decisions for themselves" regarding their financial matters and health care. While a family member or friend is often chosen to help an elderly person with those matters, judges have seen an increase in requests for help lately and have more frequently been assigning professional guardians to assist seniors. This process requires screening and oversight. For more information, visit:
Union Leader
Federal Legislation, Policy & Reports
New and Expanded Features in Family Caregiver Alliance's "Caregiving Across the States" Interactive Database
The National Center on Caregiving at Family Caregiver Alliance (FCA) has updated and added new information to its online resource, "Caregiving Across the States." This interactive database, accessible in map format on the FCA website, is a valuable resource to inform state administrators and policymakers about support programs for family caregivers of adults with chronic illnesses or disabilities. It also allows caregivers and service providers to access information they need to seek assistance and benefits for themselves or their clients. New state-by-state data include Medicaid spending on long-term care; where caregivers call to arrange for help; caregiver statistics; average assisted living monthly cost; median hourly wages for home and health care workers; and number of state-specific Medicare prescription drug plans. The expanded database is provided, in part, by a grant from the Administration on Aging, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. For more information, visit:
Family Caregiver Alliance
Defense Authorization Law Includes Training for Those who Provide Care to Military Family Members with a Traumatic Brain Injury
Defense Authorization legislation for Fiscal year 2007 (H.R. 5122), which was signed into law on October 17, 2006, includes a provision to develop training curricula for those who provide care to a family member who served in the Armed Forces and suffered a traumatic brain injury. The Defense Department must establish a panel, known as the Traumatic Brain Injury Family Caregiver Panel, to develop curricula on techniques, strategies, and skills for care and assistance of the family member. The Defense Department must also determine how to disseminate the curricula to relevant health care professionals, families, and other care or support personnel who provide services to Armed Forces personnel affected by traumatic brain injury. For more information, visit:
Thomas
Comprehensive Health Guide Includes Family Caregiver Issues
The newest edition of the Alliance for Health Reform's 300-page guide, Covering Health Issues, is now available for downloading. This edition includes a new chapter on long-term care issues, which specifically discusses the contributions and experiences of family caregivers. The book is popular with journalists and contains key facts, an overview, expert sources with telephone numbers, story ideas, helpful websites and a discussion of current policy proposals for a variety of health topics. For more information, visit:
Alliance for Health Reform
International News
Japan: First Ever Symposium Held for Persons with Dementia
On October 23 and 24, 2006, persons suffering from dementia, including Alzheimer's Disease, gathered for a symposium in Kyoto, Japan to reflect on their quality of life and to network with each other. Keynote speakers spoke about their illnesses, and discussion topics included the establishment of a patient network and patients' general state of mind. For more information, visit:
The Daily Yomiuri
United Kingdom: Report Shows Elderly Receive Substandard Care from Professional Caregivers
The Commission for Social Care Inspection released a report showing that many older people find their professional caregivers too rushed and that there is too little time to forge trust between caregivers and elderly care recipients. The report identified low pay for caregivers, limited training, and time constraints as roots of the problem, resulting in a lack of quality care. For more information, visit:
Guardian Unlimited
China: Study Examines Relationship between Elder Parent Health and Decisions to Participate in Migrant Labor Markets
This paper from the Institute for the Study of Labor in Bonn, Germany examines how participation in migrant labor markets is affected by elder parent health. "Elder Parent Health and the Migration Decision of Adult Children: Evidence from Rural China" finds "that younger adults are less likely to work as migrants when a parent is ill." However, when there are many siblings in a family, "poor elder parent health has less impact on the probability of employment as a migrant" because there are others in the family who can provide care. For more information, visit:
Institute for the Study of Labor
Research Reports & Journal Articles
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Report on "The Sandwich Generation: Women Caring for Parents and Children"
The Monthly Labor Review article from September 2006 reported on the number and characteristics of women 45 to 56 years old who care for both their children and their parents. While the article concludes that between one percent and 33 percent of women fall into that category, depending on the definition of care, it is more accurate to state that nine percent of women 45 to 56 years are part of the "sandwich generation," providing a "significant amount of care" to both their children and their parents. The article highlights that these women transfer a significant amount of money to their children and time to their aging parents. For more information, visit:
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Study Finds Correlation Between More Involved Family Caregivers and Illness Detection in Nursing Home Residents
A study published in the September 2006 (Volume 61A, Number 9) issue of the Journal of Gerontology: Medical Sciences "examined relationships between the level of informal caregiver involvement [in a nursing home] and the degree to which residents' common medical conditions were detected by facility staff." The article by Cynthia Lindman Port called "Informal Caregiver Involvement and Illness Detection Among Cognitively Impaired Nursing Home Residents" found a significant correlation between the involvement of informal caregivers and illness detection. For more information, visit:
Journals of Gerontology
Study Examines Stress on Adult Children Based on Caregiving Activities and Parents' Need for Care
A study published in the September 2006 (Volume 61B, Number 5) issue of the Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences examined the stress process on adult children, some of whom were caregivers to their parents, some who were not caregivers but whose parents needed care, and others whose parents did not need care. The article, "Parent Care and the Stress Process: Findings From Panel Data" by Anna Amirkhanyan and Douglas A. Wolffound, found that "female, but not male, caregivers whose parents needed care exhibited adverse mental health consequences." It also found that "generally, both male and female noncaregivers whose parents needed care were more likely to report symptoms of depression than were noncaregivers without disabled parents." For more information, visit:
Journals of Gerontology
Conferences & Trainings
American Society on Aging Web Seminar on Caring for People with Alzheimer's
The American Society on Aging is hosting a free web seminar called "Planning and Coordinating Care for People with Alzheimer's," which will be presented by the Medicare Rights Center. This 90-minute seminar is for caregivers and health care professionals. The seminar will be presented live on Thursday, November 2, 2006 at 1:00pm Eastern Time and is limited to the first 50 registrants. The program will be available on demand beginning Friday, November 3. For more information, visit:
American Society on Aging
"Reflecting on 100 Years of Alzheimer's: The Global Impact on Quality of Lives"
The University Center on Aging and Health at Case Western Reserve University will hold a conference on the global impact of Alzheimer's Disease on November 6-7, 2006 in Cleveland, OH. International speakers will discuss the global challenges created by Alzheimer's disease and related conditions in the areas of psychiatry, neurology, geriatrics, psychology, nursing, and social work. For more information, visit:
The University Center on Aging and Health
The Gerontological Society of America's Annual Scientific Meeting
The Gerontological Society of America (GSA) will hold its 59th Annual Scientific Meeting on November 16-20 in Dallas, Texas. About 4,000 researchers, educators, practitioners in aging are expected to attend the meeting. FCA's National Center on Caregiving is coordinating a symposium on caregiver assessment, scheduled for Sunday, November 19, 2006. For more information, visit:
The Gerontological Society of America
Symposium on Women's Retirement
Women's Institute for a Secure Retirement (WISER) is hosting a half-day symposium on women's retirement in Washington, D.C. on December 7, 2006. Participants will include experts from women's and aging organizations, the financial and retirement communities, and Capitol Hill staff. For more information, visit:
Women's Institute for a Secure Retirement
Personal Health Technologies Conference
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is hosting a conference on how personal health technologies can help people manage their health in unprecedented ways. This free conference will be held on December 7-8, 2006 in Washington, D.C. and will include consumer advocates, health care leaders and government officials. For more information, visit:
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Funding, Media & Miscellaneous
New Sections for Caregivers in Medicare Interactive
Medicare Interactive has added new sections for family caregivers with information about caregivers' rights as they relate to Medicare; advice on navigating Medicare, getting quality care for your loved one, and preparing for health care needs; and other resources. Medicare Interactive is an online source, developed by the Medicare Rights Center, with information about health care rights, options and benefits. For more information, visit:
Medicare Interactive
National Organization Urges Voters to Ask Their Candidates about Family Caregiver Issues
National Partnership for Women and Families is urging voters to ask their candidates about work and family issues, including those related to family caregivers. For example, it suggests asking candidates what they would do to "help working Americans meet their elder care responsibilities." It also suggests asking candidates if they believe workers should get unpaid time off to take an elderly parent to a doctor's appointment and what their views are on "family leave insurance" for taking time off because of a family medical emergency. For more information, visit:
National Partnership for Women and Families
Study Shows that Anti-psychotic Drugs and Alzheimer's are a Dangerous Mix
A study of Alzheimer's patients who live outside of nursing homes concluded that certain anti-psychotic drugs do not help most Alzheimer's patients with delusions and aggression and are not worth the risk of sudden death and other side effects. The Associated Press reported that "the finding could increase the burden on families struggling to care for relatives with the mind-robbing disease at home." The study tested Zyprexa, Risperdal and Seroquel. For more information, visit:
Globe Insider
