State Legislation, Policy & Reports
Massachusetts: Pilot Project Will Pay Family Caregivers $18,000 Annually
Massachusetts is set to launch a pilot project that will pay family members about $18,000 a year to care for an elderly relative or a relative with a disability at home, reported the Boston Globe. The program was enacted by the state Executive Office of Elder Affairs and the state Medicaid program and will be administered by MassHealth. It will expand the definition of caregiver to include most family members and friends, beyond just a spouse, parent or legally responsible relative. The state will provide at least $2 million a year for the pilot program, and MassHealth expects about 30 new enrollees each month. Eligible caregivers must meet asset and income criteria, and care recipients must require assistance with at least three basic activities or with managing behaviors to be eligible. For more information, visit:
Boston Globe
New York: New York City Family Caregiver Coalition Formally Launched with Documents Outlining a State Policy Agenda and an Ethical Framework for Policymaking
On November 14, 2006, the United Hospital Fund released the "New York State Policy Agenda for Family Caregivers" and "An Ethical Framework for New York State Policy Concerning Family Caregivers" as part of the official launch of the New York City Family Caregiver Coalition. "The policy agenda calls for an assessment of caregivers' needs and available services to meet those needs, a review of key policies and practices, the establishment of a mechanism to coordinate caregiving-related activities and policy implementation, and a focus on strengthening local agencies to reach, assess, and support caregivers." The ethical framework "spells out the standards by which specific regulations, policies, and programs can be measured," with the understanding that most family caregivers provide care to their loved ones because it's the right thing to do - it's ethical - and that government has an ethical responsibility to address those caregivers' needs. For more information, visit:
United Hospital Fund
Federal Legislation, Policy & Reports
Study Shows that Family Caregiving Valued at $306 Billion Nationally, Includes State by State Data
A study released on November 9, 2006 by FCA's National Center on Caregiving and the National Family Caregiver Association showed that the value of "free" services provided by family caregivers to their chronically ill, disabled or aged loved ones jumped to $306 billion - a 19% increase in the past four years. The research was conducted by Peter S. Arno, PhD, a health economist at Montefiore Medical Center/Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY. The study includes state-by-state analysis of the number of family caregivers, hours of caregiving services and their estimated market value. California tops the list, with an annual market value of over $36 billion, followed by Texas at $22 billion and New York at $20 billion. For more information, visit:
Family Caregiver Alliance
Survey Shows Women in Sandwich Generation Feel Significantly More Depressed than Americans Overall and Are Worried about Aging Parents
A national poll among women ages 35 to 54 conducted by the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) and the New York Academy of Medicine (NYAM) shows that "nearly half of women concerned about an aging relative's health said they are impacted by feelings of depression, while only 36% of women for whom an aging relative's health care is not a concern indicated feelings of depression." More than half of the women were concerned about an older relative's health, usually a parent. Yet, the survey shows that only two in ten women who are caring for both their own children and an aging relative utilize social workers as a resource in managing their elder relative's care and in addressing their own stress. The survey also shows that nearly 65% of women are concerned "a great deal" or "somewhat" about rising health care costs. For more information, visit:
National Association of Social Workers
International News
Canada: The Impact of Caregiving on Working Canadians
The Canadian journal, Perspectives on Labour and Income, published an article called "Balancing Career and Care" by Wendy Pyper in its November 2006 issue (Volume 5, Number 11). The article "examines the prevalence and impact of caregiving among middle-aged Canadians, looking at the hours they spend in both work and informal care of seniors." In 2002, more than 1.7 million adults in Canada aged 45 to 64 provided unpaid care to almost 2.3 million seniors with chronic care needs. The article shows that "high-intensity caregiving had substantial effects for more than half of all women caregivers, regardless of the hours of paid work. When higher degrees of caregiving and employment were combined, two-thirds of women experienced substantial employment related consequences," including reduced work hours, changes in their work patterns, or having to turn down job offers or promotions. For more information, visit:
Perspectives on Labour and Income
European Union: AARP Study on European Experiences with Long-Term Care
AARP issued a report in October 2006 called the "AARP European Leadership Study: European Experiences with Long-Term Care," which focused on long-term care systems in the Netherlands, Norway, the United Kingdom (UK), and France. Among other things, it includes information about the types of support provided for family caregivers in each country. For example, Norway provides a wage for family caregivers, as well as a public pension credit, paid leave, and respite care; while the UK provides an "allowance" for family caregivers, public pension credit, caregiver assessment, and respite care. The study describes the financing mechanisms for long-term care in each country, trends toward consumer-directed home care, and issues related to home- and community-based services. For more information, visit:
AARP
South Korea: Scientists Working on Robot Caregiver for the Elderly
The Khaleej Times reported that hundreds of South Korean scientists are working to develop robot caregivers, which could do chores and monitor the health of elderly people. Kim Mun-Sang, a researcher at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology, said the project is due for completion in 2013. The goal is for a robot to be equipped with voice recognition software so it could obey commands to do such things as order food from a nearby restaurant or clean up dishes, as well as to monitor its elderly owner's daily schedule and to remind him or her when to take medicine. For more information, visit:
Khaleej Times
Research Reports & Journal Articles
Study on the Effects of Adult Day Services on Caregivers' Quality of Life
The October 2006 issue (Volume 46, Number 5) of The Gerontologist included an article on caregiver interventions called "Enhancing Quality of Life of Families Who Use Adult Day Services: Short- and Long-Term Effects of the Adult Day Services Plus Program" by Dr. Laura Gitlin and her colleagues. "This study examined the short- and long-term effects of Adult Day Services Plus (ADS Plus), a low-cost care management intervention designed to enhance family caregiver well-being, increase service utilization, and decrease nursing home placement of impaired older adults enrolled in adult day care." ADS Plus involved one-on-one contact between a social worker and family caregivers and included care management, education, counseling, and referral services. In both the short- and long-term, ADS Plus participants reported less depression and improved confidence managing behaviors. For more information, visit:
The Gerontologist
Study on Dyadic Intervention for Family Caregivers and Care Receivers
An articled in the October 2006 issue (Volume 46, Number 5) of The Gerontologist called "Dyadic Intervention for Family Caregivers and Care Receivers in Early-Stage Dementia" by Dr. Carol Whitlatch and her colleagues examined the implementation of a counseling program that included family caregivers and care recipients together. The Early Diagnosis Dyadic Intervention (EDDI) program provides a structured, time-limited protocol of one-on-one and dyadic counseling for family caregivers and care receivers who are in the early stages of dementia, with the goals being to increase the care receiver's active participation in his or her care plan, to develop positive communication patterns between the caregiver and care receiver, and to increase knowledge and understanding about available services. "Participant and counselor evaluations of the EDDI protocol indicated that the intervention was acceptable and satisfactory to the caregivers, care receivers, and counselors, and that the intervention's goals and objectives were achievable." For more information, visit:
The Gerontologist
Study Examines Use and Cost of Informal Caregiving for Alzheimer's Disease Patients
An article by Dr. Carolyn Zhu and her colleagues called "Clinical Characteristics and Longitudinal Changes of Informal Cost of Alzheimer's Disease in the Community" was published in the October 2006 issue (Volume 54) of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. The study estimated the "long-term trajectories of the use and cost of informal caregiving for patients with Alzhemier's Disease and the effects of patient characteristics on the use and cost of informal caregiving... Results show that rates of informal care use and caregiving hours (and costs) increased substantially over time but were related differently to patients' characteristics." The study found that the worse a patient's condition or level of functioning, the higher the use of informal caregiving. "Average annual informal cost was estimated at $25,381 per patient, increasing from $20,589 at baseline to $43,030 in Year 4." For more information, visit:
Journal of the American Geriatrics Society
"Enhancing the Quality of Life of Dementia Caregivers from Different Ethnic or Racial Groups"
Results from the study, Resources for Enhancing Alzheimer's Caregiver Health II (REACH II), were published in the November 21, 2006 issue (Volume 145, Issue 10) of the Annals of Internal Medicine. The article by Dr. Richard Schulz and his colleagues, "Enhancing the Quality of Life of Dementia Caregivers from Different Ethnic or Racial Groups," explained that the purpose of the study was to test the effects of interventions on caregiver quality of life and depression levels, as well as on rates of institutional placement of care recipients in 3 diverse racial or ethnic groups. Results indicated that the intervention, which "addressed caregiver depression, burden, self-care, and social support and care recipient problem behaviors," did improve the quality of life for African-American, Hispanic, and white family caregivers. For more information, visit:
Annals of Internal Medicine
EurekAlert
"Improving Caregiver Well-Being Delays Nursing Home Placement of Patients with Alzheimer's Disease"
The results of a study show that Alzheimer's patients whose spouse caregivers received counseling and a multi-component support intervention "experienced a 28.3% reduction in the rate of nursing home placement" compared with those who did not receive the intervention. "Improving Caregiver Well-Being Delays Nursing Home Placement of Patients with Alzheimer's Disease" by Dr. Mary Mittlelman and her colleagues was published in the November issue (Volume 67) of Neurology. The intervention included multiple sessions of individual and family counseling, support group participation, and continuous availability of telephone counseling. "Improvements in caregivers' satisfaction with social support, response to patient behavior problems, and symptoms of depression collectively accounted for 61.2% of the intervention's beneficial impact on placement." For more information, visit:
Neurology
Conferences & Trainings
National Conference on Caregiving Slated for March 6, 2007
FCA's National Center on Caregiving, in partnership with the American Society on Aging, is presenting a one-day preconference special program "Family Caregiving: State of the Art, Future Trends," at the 2007 Joint Conference of the American Society on Aging (ASA) and the National Council on Aging (NCOA). The special program will be held on Tuesday, March 6 from 8:30am-5:00pm in Chicago (the Joint Conference will be held March 7-10). It will bring together experts from practice, policy and research arenas to discuss leading edge research, effective service interventions, and future trends that will profoundly affect family caregivers. For conference speakers, program details and information on registration, visit:
Family Caregiver Alliance
Funding, Media & Miscellaneous
Family Caregiver Alliance (FCA) Recognized by the National Alliance for Caregiving and MetLife Foundation for its Innovations in Technology
Family Caregiver Alliance (FCA) was awarded the 2006 Family Caregiver Award for Technology from the National Alliance for Caregiving and MetLife Foundation. FCA was recognized for using technology effectively to support family caregivers throughout its programs in education, services, research and advocacy. Awards were also presented in the categories of Caregiver Support, Caregiver Education, and Caregiver Education and Excellence in Alzheimer's Caregiver Support. For more information, visit:
National Alliance for Caregiving
LA Times Reports, "Caring Is a Man's Job Too"
Jonathan Peterson reported in the LA Times on November 27, 2006, "Caring is a man's job too." He highlighted data showing that men are now 52% of the 16 million family caregivers who also hold full-time jobs outside the home, according to a study by the MetLife Mature Market Institute and the National Alliance for Caregiving, and that men provide more than 40% of family caregiver hours a week. The story highlighted the hard work family caregivers engage in and the sacrifices they often make to care for their loved ones. For more information, visit:
LA Times
Survey Finds Most of New York City's Low-Income Residents Have No Paid Time Off
The Community Service Society of New York released a new study, conducted by Lake Research Partners, which revealed that most of New York City's low-income residents (65%) have zero paid sick days. Furthermore, many of those workers - 43% of low-income workers and 54% of low-income single moms - have little to no savings to rely on if they have to take off a day from work without pay to care for a sick relative or child. The survey also revealed that most New Yorkers think there should be a law requiring employers to give full-time workers at least seven paid sick days a year. For more information, visit:
The Community Service Society
American Bar Association Releases Updated Legal Guide for Americans Over 50
An updated legal guide for baby boomers and their parents authored by the American Bar Association Commission on Law and Aging and published by Random House is now available for purchase. The book contains new chapters on elder abuse, financial planning for incapacity, advance planning for health care decisions, and marriage and divorce. It also contains information on Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and other government programs. For more information, visit:
American Bar Association Service Center
