State Legislation, Policy & Reports

Illinois: Bill Introduced to Establish an Alzheimer's State Council

On April 18, 2007, a bill was introduced in the Illinois Senate (S.J.R. 43) to create a state council known as the Alzheimer's Disease and Other Related Dementia State Plan Council. The council would be charged with assessing the current and future impact of Alzheimer's disease on the residents of Illinois. It would also examine the existing services and resources to address the needs of persons with Alzheimer's, as well as their families and caregivers, and, by January 1, 2009, develop an Alzheimer's Disease and Other Related Dementia State Plan, which should include family caregiver support. For more information, visit:

Illinois Legislature

New York: Paid Family Leave Bill Introduced

On April 20, 2007, a bill was introduced in the New York Senate (S. 4738) to establish a family temporary care insurance program within the state's disability insurance program for workers who need time off to care for an ill family member, including a child, spouse, sibling, parent, grandparent, or in-law. Workers would be allowed up to 14 weeks off to provide care, including "psychological comfort and arranging third party care," and would receive the same benefit as provided to workers taking disability leave. The bill would also establish a task force to report on the usage, costs, and other evaluations of this family care insurance program. For more information, visit:

New York Legislature

Federal Legislation, Policy & Reports

Elder Justice Act Reintroduced

On March 29, 2007, Senators Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) and Representatives Rahm Emanuel (D-IL) and Peter King (R-NY) reintroduced the Elder Justice Act (S. 1070/ H.R. 1783) in the Senate and House of Representatives. The bill would provide federal funding for Adult Protective Services; support new forensic expertise in elder abuse; authorize $10 million for training, technical assistance, demonstration programs and research to improve long-term care ombudsman effectiveness in addressing abuse and neglect; authorize $20 million in grants to enhance long-term care staffing through training employee incentives; and improve the quality of information and research related to elder abuse. For more information, visit:

Thomas

Bills Would Expand Child and Dependent Tax Credit to More Family Caregivers

Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) introduced a bill, the Middle Class Opportunity Act (S. 614), which, among other things, would expand the Child and Dependent Tax Credit to taxpayers who incur caregiving expenses for their parents or grandparents who do not live with them. On April 18, 2007, Representative Joe Donnelly (D-IN) introduced similar legislation (H.R. 1911) in the House to expand the dependent tax credit to more caregiving families. Currently, a caregiver's mother or father must be living with them in order to claim the credit. For more information, visit:

Thomas

Study: "Does High Caregiver Stress Lead to Nursing Home Entry?"

A study for the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services by Brenda Spillman and Sharon Long of the Urban Institute, released January 26, 2007, examined "how informal care, paid formal care, and stress or burden experienced by caregivers relates to nursing home placement." The study found that the more stress a family caregiver experienced, often caused by caregiving-related physical strain, financial hardship and recipient behavior problems, the more likely it was that a care recipient would end up going to a nursing home. Accordingly, the "analysis provides support for initiatives to reduce caregiver stress as a strategy to avoid or defer nursing home entry and to underpin current efforts to return nursing home residents to community-based care." For more information, visit:

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

International News

Worldwide Dementia Care Costs Reach $315 Billion

The total cost of dementia care worldwide is estimated to be $315.4 billion annually, according to new data published in the April 2007 issue of Alzheimer's & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer's Association. Those costs are based on an estimated 29.3 million people in the world with dementia. The total included $105 billion for the cost of "informal care," or the lost wages of family caregivers who provide "support in personal activities of daily life," such as bathing, dressing and grooming, to their family members and friends with dementia. The study found that 90% of dementia patients in developing countries lived at home, and 73% of dementia patients in developed countries lived at home. While less than half (46%) of people with dementia live in developed regions in the world, those countries incur 77% of the total dementia care costs. For more information, visit:

Alzheimer's Association

Global Perspectives on Children's Unpaid Caregiving in the Family

A study by Saul Becker of the University of Nottingham, which looked at young caregivers in the United Kingdom, Australia, the United States and Sub-Saharan Africa, was published this year in Global Social Policy (Volume 7, Number 1). Becker used available statistics and research evidence to examine "young caregivers," or children who provide substantial, regular or significant unpaid care to other family members, including their prevalence in each country; how they differ from other children; and how their caregiving responsibilities have been explained in research from both developed and developing countries. The study also analyzes each country's level of awareness about its young caregivers and its policy response. For more information, visit:

Sage Journals

Research Reports & Journal Articles

Study Examines Use of Family and Medical Leave by Older Workers

In February 2007, AARP released a report to determine the value of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) to older workers. The report, "Use of Leave by 50+ Workers for Family and Medical Reasons," found that nearly three in five (58%) respondents had taken time off from work during the past five years for a medical- or family-related reason. Specifically, almost half (47%) of those workers had taken off due to their own serious health condition, and one-fourth (25%) had taken off to care for a family member with a serious health condition. Women were more likely than men to have taken longer periods of leave, and "the most common reasons for taking less leave than requested related to lack of employer permission, concerns about job security, the perception of being too busy to take leave, and concerns about loss of pay." For more information, visit:

AARP

Analysis Examines Caregiver Stressors Associated with Poor Physical Health

A meta-analysis on caregiver health was published in the March issue of the Journal of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences (Volume 62B, Number 2) by Martin Pinquart and Silvia Sorensen. The article, "Correlates of Physical Health of Informal Caregivers: A Meta-Analysis," found that caregiver depressive symptoms, higher level behavior problems by care recipients, higher caregiver age, lower socioeconomic status, and lower levels of support were all associated with poorer physical health of family caregivers. "Associations of caregiving stressors with health were stronger among older samples, dementia caregivers, and men." For more information, visit:

Journal of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences

Survey Finds Misperceptions about In-Home Care Worker Training Levels

According to a Harris Interactive Survey released April 16, 2007, over three-fourths (78%) of respondents who had hired an in-home care worker for an older family member or friend believed those workers had received formal training. Yet, the United States has no national training requirements for in-home direct care workers. These data came from a series of surveys, which also found that only 8% of respondents had hired a paid in-home care worker for someone age 65 or older in the last year. Of those, 44% were paying out-of-pocket for at least some of the costs. The survey was commissioned by The Caregiving Project for Older Americans, a joint venture of the International Longevity Center-USA and the Schmiedling Center for Senior Health & Education. For more information, visit:

The Caregiving Project for Older Americans

Conferences & Trainings

AARP Holds Diversity and Aging Conference June 19-21

AARP will hold its first-ever Diversity and Aging Conference from June 19-21, 2007 in Los Angeles, California. The conference will focus on diversity and aging in the workplace and marketplace. It will include a session on perspectives from family caregivers. For more information, visit:

AARP

Generations United 14th International Conference

Generations United will hold its 14th international conference from July 24 -27, 2007 in Washington, D.C. The conference, called Intergenerational: IT'S MONUMENTAL, will showcase intergenerational programs, practices and research from around the world, as well as foster new and creative intergenerational programming, enhance and strengthen local, national and international practice, and support effective public policy initiatives that work to improve the lives of people of all ages and connecting generations. For more information, visit:

Generations United

Funding, Media & Miscellaneous

"New Home in Old Age - Seniors Compelled to Move"

On April 12, 2007, USA Today published an article on the recent trend of retired seniors who, as they age and need more care, are leaving home towns to move closer to their adult children. "New Home in Old Age - Seniors Compelled to Move," by Marco R. della Cava, highlights some of the challenges adult children face when caring for their aging parents from a distance, and the advantages - as well as the challenges - that come when the parent moves closer to the adult child. Adult children often take on more daily caregiving and financial responsibilities, and their parents often face a loss of independence and may suffer some depression. But, as the older adults in the article point out, they also enjoy greater security and more time with their children and grandchildren after the move. For more information, visit:

USA Today

Article Highlights Prevalence of Informal Care for Older Adults

In her article in The Columbus Dispatch, reporter Rita Price noted that older Americans rely more on family and friends for care than on professional care providers or institutions such as nursing homes. At the same time, significantly more Medicaid long-term care dollars are spent on nursing homes than on home- and community-based care. For example, in 2005, "Ohio's Medicaid program spent about $2.8 billion on nursing homes and about $950 million on home and community-based services." She also pointed out that, as the population ages, more seniors will have to rely on the generosity of friends and neighbors to assist them with daily living because they don't want to go into institutional care and either they have no family or their family members live far away. For more information, visit:

The Columbus Dispatch