State Legislation, Policy & Reports

Maryland: Court Rules Eligibility Standards for Medicaid Waiver Program Too Strict

According to the Baltimore Sun, the Maryland Court of Special Appeals ruled in November that the state's standards for determining a person's level of medical need in order to qualify for the Medicaid Older Adults Waiver Program were stricter than is allowed under federal law. The waiver program provides home- and community-based services to older adults with limited income and assets who are too sick or disabled to live without assistance, but would rather not live in a nursing home. It is unclear if the state will appeal the case, and at the same time, many similar cases of older adults being denied services under the waiver are pending. The state argues that funding is limited and that loosening the standards may cause the neediest cases to be denied assistance. For more information, visit:

Baltimore Sun

New Jersey: Advocates Pushing for Paid Family Leave Legislation

The New Jersey Time to Care Coalition held a Grassroots Lobby Day on December 10, 2007 to support a bill which would provide family leave insurance to workers in the state. The bill, introduced in the Senate and Assembly (S.B. 2249/ A.3812) in late 2006, would guarantee employees up to ten weeks of paid leave to care for sick family members, including a child, spouse, domestic partner, or parent with a serious health condition, or to bond with a newborn or newly adopted child. Workers would receive up to two-thirds of their weekly wage, up to a maximum weekly amount of $502. Governor Jon Corzine has stated his strong support for the bill, which advocates hope will pass by early 2008. While the bill is waiting for a floor vote in the Senate, the Assembly has yet to hold a committee hearing on the bill. For more information, visit:

New Jersey Time to Care Coalition

Federal Legislation, Policy & Reports

CMS Releases List of Poorly Performing Nursing Homes

On November 29, 2007, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released a list of 54 nursing homes in a total of 33 states and the District of Columbia which continually fail to meet safety and quality-of-care standards in their states. The list, posted on the CMS website, is intended to make it easier for family caregivers and others to identify poorly performing nursing homes, as well as put pressure on those facilities to improve. All the nursing homes included on the list were receiving additional oversight from CMS and failing to show improvement. For more information, visit:

Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services

International News

United Kingdom: Policymakers Push New Consumer-Directed Program

According to the Guardian Unlimited, legislators in the U.K. have proposed a new social care policy that would provide older adults and adults with disabilities a personal budget for long-term care services which would allow them to choose the type of services they want and how they are provided. The program, called Putting People First, is already being piloted by 2,000 people across the country. It has received positive reviews so far and has allowed care receivers to choose their own home care workers and allowed family caregivers more respite options. Many policymakers hope to make the program available nationwide. For more information, visit:

Guardian Unlimited

Research Reports & Journal Articles

National Commission for Quality Long-Term Care Recommends Adequate Supports for Family Caregivers

On December 3, 2007, the National Commission for Quality Long-Term Care released its final report, "From Isolation to Integration: Recommendations to Improve Quality Long-Term Care." The recommendations focus broadly on quality of care, workforce issues, technology and financing long-term care. In particular, the report recognizes the significant contributions family caregivers make to long-term care, and it recommends that adequate supports be available. These supports include assessments of caregivers' needs, voluntary training and respite, technical help from health care professionals and a reliable back-up system of direct care workers. For more information, visit:

National Commission for Quality Long-Term Care

Article Highlights Heavy Burden on Women Caregivers

The Journal of Women's Health (Volume 16, Number 6) published an article which provided an overview of the affects of caregiving on women's physical health, mental health and financial well-being. The article, "Supportive Care Needs of Americans: A Major Issue for Women as Both Recipients and Providers" by Dr. Lisa McGuire and her colleagues from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), points out that women caregivers tend to fare worse than men, with higher levels of depression and anxiety and lower levels of life satisfaction and physical health. The authors argue that "we need to include caregivers in available national level surveillance systems" in order to provide "public health officials with vital information for decision making and planning for an aging society." For more information, visit:

Journal of Women's Health

Conferences & Trainings

Conference on Patient- and Family-Centered Care in Hospitals

The Institute for Family-Centered Care is hosting a seminar March 3-6, 2008 in Atlanta called "Hospitals Moving Forward with Patient- and Family-Centered Care: An Intensive Training Seminar Enhancing Quality and Safety for Patients and Their Families." The seminar is for hospital administrators, physicians, nurses and other clinical staff, as well as patient and family leaders who associate with hospitals as consumers. For more information, visit:

Institute for Family-Centered Care

2008 NCOA-ASA Conference: Aging in America

The 2008 Joint Conference of the National Council on Aging (NCOA) and the American Society on Aging (ASA) will be held March 26-30, 2008, in Washington, DC. The conference will feature hundreds of sessions covering a wide range of topics in aging, as well as a special Capital Hill Day on March 26. The conference will bring together a diverse, multidisciplinary community of more than 3,500 professionals from the fields of aging, healthcare and education. For more information, visit:

Joint Conference of the NCOA and ASA

Funding, Media & Miscellaneous

"More Resources Help Caregivers Help Themsleves"

The Wall Street Journal published an article on November 28, 2007, which discussed the burdens and challenges family caregivers face and the importance of having resources and support available for them. The article sited research which shows the effectiveness of counseling in improving caregiver well-being, as well as the benefit of in-home skills training, support groups and other assistance in juggling caregiver tasks. The article mentioned current efforts to secure more public funding for caregiver support programs, as well as other efforts by experienced family caregivers to work with and educate those who are just beginning the journey of caring for a family member or friend. For more information, visit:

Wall Street Journal

New Book: A Family Caregiver Speaks Up

Suzanne Mintz, President of the National Family Caregivers Association, has written a revised and updated edition of her old book, Love, Humor and Value. The new book, A Family Caregiver Speaks Up, includes a chapter on how public policy affects the lives of caregiving families, as well as a forward by Family Caregiver Alliance Executive Director Kathleen Kelly. The book also provides tips and advice for family caregivers. For more information, visit:

National Family Caregivers Association

Community Perspectives on Dementia in Asian Elders

Viji Sundaram, the health editor for New America Media, wrote an article November 29 on how Hmong, Chinese and Vietnamese communities view dementia in ways that are both similar and different. The article, "Madness, Demons, or 'Loss of Soul': Dementia in Asian Elders," reports that researchers have observed that all three groups attribute dementia to a normal aging process and are very unlikely to admit an older family member to a nursing home for care. At the same time, researchers say that because each community talks about and understands dementia in different terms, programs for family caregivers from these ethnic communities and other health education programs must be tailored differently. For more information, visit:

New America Media