Caregivers

How is the state of Maryland providing necessary information on Medicaid waiver programs to consumers, families, and professionals? Attached find a presentation from a 2010 training presentation as well as a case study. May be replicable by other states wanting to disseminate similar information.

The limited research in the area of elder abuse suggests that the problem is widespread and largely unreported. Over the next several decades, the problem of elder abuse is expected to grow as the population of Americans age 65+ rapidly expands. This report provides both data on these issues as well as recommendations for future data collection and funding.

View the Federal Tax Changes for Fiscal/Employer Agents in 2011, compiled by the National Resource Center for Participant-Directed Services, noting that the Advanced Earned Income Credit must no longer be paid by employers, and Federal tax deposits must be made by electronic funds transfer. Read about these changes and more.

Families have always borne the burden of long-term care, and struggle with feelings of grief, loss, despair, anger and hopelessness. In this powerful first person account, the author points out some of the sad consequences of the American health care system's emphasis on the treatment of acute episodic illness or injury and its relative neglect of chronic illness long-term care. This essay, written for the New England Journal of Medicine’s “Sounding Board” series, is considered a seminal work.

View a four-part series that comprehensively examines the physical, mental, emotional, and lifestyle adjustments associated with caregiving. The show underscores the urgent need for understanding the stressful relationships that can evolve and offers guidance on how to manage expectations, providing insight into what support is already in place.

MDS 3.0 has been designed to improve the reliability, accuracy and usefulness of the MDS, to include the resident in the assessment process and to use standard protocols used in other settings. This website offers a number of resources regarding this tool, including videos, fact sheets, presentations and CMS training materials.

High caregiving stress has been associated with poor physical and psychological health, and with increased mortality among spouse caregivers. This study examined the differential effects of stress on stroke and coronary heart disease (CHD) risk by race and sex. Caregiving strain was significantly associated with higher estimated risk for men, particularly African American men, providing caregiving to their wives.

Five innovative states (Arizona, Hawaii, Tennessee, Texas, and Wisconsin) with demonstrated expertise in managed care approaches for individuals with long-term care needs are featured in this report. The resulting “roadmap” outlines 10 critical mileposts for successfully designing models for managed LTSS. It also identifies key ACA provisions that support state efforts to improve long-term care delivery.

A large proportion of the population is facing the competing demands of working and caring for a loved one. This study investigates the impact of informal caregiving, employment, and the combination of these responsibilities on the overall well-being of the caregiver. Higher well-being reported by employed caregivers compared with non-employed counterparts suggests that the benefits of employment, such as financial security and social support, can ease the burden of the caregiving role.

Hiring relatives as caregivers remains a controversial policy issue. This two-state case study reports findings about views from policy experts regarding a policy option to hire family caregivers in HCBS long-term care programs. Policy makers also discussed information needed by other states considering this option and effective approaches to disseminate findings about this option from the Cash & Counseling Demonstration Evaluation.