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Vol. 16, No. 3
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March 31, 2016
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Better Care, Lower Cost Act (H.R. 4878)
- This bill amends title XVIII of the Social Security Act to establish a Medicare Better Care Program to provide integrated care for Medicare beneficiaries with chronic conditions. The program is intended to promote accountability and better care management for chronically ill populations.
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Caregivers Expansion and Improvement Act of 2015 (S. 657)
- This bill amends title 38, United States Code, to extend to all veterans with a serious service-connected injury eligibility to participate in the family caregiver services program.
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Credit for Caring Act of 2016 (H.R. 4708)
- This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide a nonrefundable credit for working family caregivers.
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Social Security Caregiver Credit Act of 2016 (S. 2721)
- This bill amends title II of the Social Security Act to credit individuals serving as caregivers of dependent relatives with deemed wages for up to five years of such service.
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S.O.S. Veterans Caregivers Act (H.R. 4837)
- This bill amends title 38, United States Code, to clarify that caregivers for veterans with serious illnesses are eligible for assistance and support services provided by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs.
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Family Caregiving is Finally Gaining Public and Policy Notice
- A recent Journal of the American Society on Aging article by FCA/NCC Executive Director Kathleen Kelly and Jennifer Wolff highlights that the pace of dialogue and interest in family caregiving has accelerated a great deal in the past five years. The article also identifies the following four (4) major factors in the evolution of family caregiving and policy discourse on caregiving:
- A growing awareness of population aging and the need to prepare for an increase in Americans of advanced old age with significant health needs;
- The passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA);
- The proliferation and diffusion of new consumer and health information technologies; and
- The concerted advocacy campaigns calling for changes in federal and state policies affecting family caregivers.
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One State's Fight to Fund a Family Caregiving Law
- This Forbes story explains how Ceria-Ulep, chair of the Department of Nursing at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, has advocated the legislation that would provide a type of universal long-term care insurance for the people of Hawaii. However, opposition to the bill and deferment by a legislative committee on February 29, 2016 has caused Ceria-Ulep and other supporters of the bill to prepare now for next year's legislative session.
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Support for Uncompensated Family Caregivers (H.C.R. 24)
- This resolution reports findings of the legislature and endorses efforts by the Idaho Caregiver Alliance to create a task force to explore innovative means to support uncompensated family caregivers in Idaho.
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Task Force to Study Issues Concerning Family Caregivers (S.C.R. 123)
- This resolution reports findings of the legislature and creates a task force to study issues concerning family caregivers.
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New AARP Survey Shows Maryland Voters Across Party Lines Support Helping Family Caregivers with Hospital to Home Transition
- This PR Newswire news release details AARP Maryland's recently released survey findings regarding Maryland family caregiver experiences, challenges, and needs. Specifically, the reports demonstrates that Maryland voters, regardless of party affiliation, strongly support the following:
- Requiring hospitals and healthcare facilities to explain and demonstrate medical and nursing tasks that family caregivers will need to perform once patients return home (96%);
- Maintaining a family caregiver informed of major decisions such as transferring or discharging a patient (92%); and
- Recording the name of a patient's family caregiver in a patient's medical record upon admission (82%).
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Notification System for Missing Vulnerable Adults (L.R. 507)
- This resolution proposes an interim study to examine the development of a public notification system to broadcast alerts when vulnerable adults go missing. Such alerts are designed to locate vulnerable adults whose health and safety are at risk while they remain missing. The Alzheimer's State Plan Subcommittee of the Aging Nebraskans Task Force has identified the need for such a system to locate missing persons with Alzheimer's disease or dementia.
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2016 AARP Missouri Caregiving Survey: The Caregiver Advise, Record, Enable (CARE) Act
- This AARP Research report details the results of a recent study on Missouri family caregivers, most of whom believe that it is important to be able to provide care that enables loved ones to continue living independently in their own homes, and that support the Caregiver Advise, Record and Enable (CARE) Act.
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Integrating Estimates of the Social and Individual Costs of Caregiving into Dementia Treatment Trials
- This recently published Health Services Insights article examines how a variety of new treatments for dementia awaiting or undergoing randomized clinical trials often measure changes in cognitive and physical function, but fail to discuss important impacts on the social and individual costs of these treatments. The author argues that outcomes such as family caregiver time and caregiver burden must be included in trials of dementia treatments to generate a more complete picture of how well these treatments work.
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The Skyrocketing of the Age 85+: AARP Data Explorer Provides Long-Term Services and Supports Data for Policy Solutions
- This AARP blog story presents the newly released AARP Data Explorer, an interactive website with data displayed in the form of graphs, tables and maps, which facilitates comparisons between older populations and younger populations among other aging variables in further developing policy solutions.
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World's older population grows dramatically
- This National Institutes of Health (NIH) news release highlights the findings of the new NIH-funded Census Bureau report, An Aging World: 2015. The report contains detailed information about life expectancy, gender balance, health, mortality, disability, health care systems, labor force participation and retirement, pensions and poverty among the elderly around the globe. A featured finding indicates that America's 65+ population is projected to nearly double over the next three decades, from 48 million to 88 million by 2050.
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A look at the Caregiving Economy and Matching Demand with Supply
- This MedCity News report highlights that providing care for older adults in the home offers a unique opportunity to align the desires of patients, payers, and providers. Citing the experiences of caregivers and technological innovations in care to make its case, the article's author also suggests that innovating caregiving to accommodate for aging in place can potentially yield positive impacts in care recipients' physical and emotional health, as well as immediate reductions in systematic healthcare spending.
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Alzheimer's caregivers give up food, medication, education, report says
- This CNN story highlights how the cost Alzheimer's caregiving affects families across the nation. According to the Alzheimer's Association, many people are struggling in having to sacrifice spending on themselves in order to care for someone with Alzheimer's disease. The 2016 Alzheimer's Facts and Figures report indicates that the cost of Alzheimer's care in the United States in 2016 is projected to be $236 billion, a figure that is expected to increase to a potential cost of $1.1 trillion by 2050 in addressing the needs of 13.8 million Americans with Alzheimer's.
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Less than Half of Family Caregivers Have a Care Plan in Place for their Loved Ones
- According to this PR Newswire press release, AgingCare's recent Care Plan Survey reveals that 51% of caregivers report having no care plan to help them manage their caregiving responsibilities. Of those who have a plan in place, nearly 41% of caregivers report having no assistance from family members, friends, and/or elder care professionals to execute those plans. In light of caregivers' lack of formal organization, AgingCare has created a customizable Care Plan Guide to help caregivers better manage their responsibilities.
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The Work that Makes Work Possible: Why Valuing Unpaid Care Work Fosters Economic Growth and Gender Equality
- This story from The Atlantic highlights the increasingly central role of caregiving in the American economy: caregiving is projected to be the largest occupation in the United States by 2020, with care-sector jobs growing five times faster than other large job sectors. Furthermore, the labor of caregivers--the majority of whom are women of color, often immigrant women--enables vast percentages of economic productivity in the US, without commensurate compensation or benefits.
- The story suggests that care can be a national priority with an infrastructure to match, and that we must work to make unpaid care work visible to fully realize its crucial economic value. From there, we can cultivate strategies for the development of the nation's care infrastructure, which must include men as vital participants in creating and sustaining this infrastructure of care.
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Making Technology Easier for Older People to Use
- This New York Times story details how older adults are increasingly encountering more assistance in navigating the wired world. Advocacy groups like AARP, senior centers, and retirement communities are offering more free courses for the elderly while devices and applications designed for aging hands and eyes are rapidly emerging. Also, electronic media is recognized as bridge between older adults and the social world.
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Technology and Caregiving go Hand in Hand
- This Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies article details how advancements in technology have made caregiving easier, more efficient, and more reliable by facilitating the sharing and retrieval of data. Also, several digital devices and services that allow older adults greater independence while reducing caregiver workloads are described in the article (e.g., telehealth).
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White House Prescribes 12 Tech Remedies for Aging Baby Boomers
- This Government Technology story covers the President's Council of Advisers on Science and Technology (PCAST) report with twelve (12) recommendations to help older adults remain independent for as long as possible. PCAST's recommendations promote wearable sensors, prosthetics, cognitive training apps, and policy changes to make mobility solutions (i.e., electric wheelchairs) more accessible through financial assistance. However, the report places the greatest emphasis on Internet availability.
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Alzheimer's and Dementia Care Relief Grant Program
- Hilarity for Charity and the Home Instead Senior Care network are collaborating to award home care grants to those providing care to their loved ones living with Alzheimer's disease or other dementias.
- The grants will be awarded across the United States and Canada, and are meant to contribute to the provision of exceptional home care to families affected by this disease, and to give these families support and rest.
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Seed Grants Available for the Start-up of Dementia Day Programs
- The Brookdale Foundation Group has issued a Request For Proposals (RFP) for the start-up of new social model Group Respite or Early Memory Loss programs for people with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias.
- In October 2016, The Foundation will be awarding up to 15 seed grants for the development of dementia-specific Group Respite programs or specialized programs for people with Early Memory Loss (EML). The grants are $10,000 for the first year with an opportunity for a second tier grant of $5,000. Any 501(c)(3) or equivalent not-for-profit service agency wishing to develop a social model day program for Alzheimer's families is invited to apply. Proposals are due at The Brookdale Foundation Group office in New Jersey on Thursday, July 7, 2016. More information can be obtained by visiting www.brookdalefoundation.org.
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FAMILY CAREGIVER ALLIANCE ANNOUNCEMENTS
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FCA Call for Caregiver Stories for the News Media
- FCA often receives requests from the news media seeking family caregivers served by FCA willing to be interviewed about their caregiving experience and how FCA has helped them.
- If you would like to share your caregiving stories and how FCA has helped you, please complete the online form to be added to the list of FCA's caregiver media ambassadors.
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Put Your Family Caregiving on the Map (from the Atlas of Caregiving Pilot)
- The Atlas of Caregiving Pilot offers information on how caregivers can create their own care map.
- A care map is a helpful way to visually represent all the people and services involved in a family caregiving situation.
- Once completed, the map will show all the individuals who are providing care and the relationships between them.
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COMMUNITY-BASED ORGANIZATIONS (CBOs)
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Resources for CBOs: The SCAN Foundation Linkage Lab Initiative
- The SCAN Foundation, through its Linkage Lab Initiative, offers a suite of resources for CBOs seeking partnerships with the health care sector. Resources include the following:
- Case studies from the first cohort of Linkage Lab grantees, which includes information about their key objectives and strategies, successes, challenges, and lessons learned.
- Free online learning modules for CBOs to build leadership and management capacity.
- Perspectives from Dr. Bruce Chernof on the importance of forming effective health care/CBO partnerships.
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The Community Research Center for Senior Health (CRC-SH) Releases a New Resource in the Arena of Evidence Based Programs (EBPs)
- CRC-SH has developed a free web-based toolkit to guide CBOs through the selection, implementation, and evaluation of EBPs to better promote older adult health and well-being.
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FCA/NCC RESEARCH REGISTRY
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NOTE: All FCA/NCC Caregiving Policy Digest Research Registry listings are displayed in the manner they were received by FCA/NCC.
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Copyright © 2016 Family Caregiver Alliance | National Center on Caregiving.
All Rights Reserved.
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