Caregiver Support

VA has expanded the Program of Comprehensive Assistance for Family Caregivers (PCAFC) to include caregivers of eligible Veterans of all service eras. Previously, PCAFC was only available to eligible Veterans who served on or after September 11, 2001. This expansion opens the program to eligible Veterans of all eras, including those who served after May 7, 1975, and before September 11, 2001. Over the past two years, PCAFC has added approximately 20,000 active Veteran and Family Caregiver participants. This final phase of PCAFC expansion will enhance the health and well-being of thousands more Veterans by supporting their caregivers.

To celebrate Black History Month and National Caregivers Day, NCLER interviewed Dr. Donna Benton of the University of Southern California’s Leonard Davis School of Gerontology. During the interview, Dr. Benton discussed her work supporting Black caregivers, the importance of caregiving in the Black community, and strategies for advocates to support their Black older adult clients. She also spoke about the need for legal assistance in advance planning and addressing housing scams in the Black community.

This blog post from the Better Care Playbook discusses Medicare Advantage (MA) plans that support family caregivers, specifically hightlighing UCare in Minnesota and UPMC Health Plan in Pennsylvania. The blog post explains the importance of supporting caregivers and explores the considerations around offering caregiver support as a supplemental benefit.

USAging and the Eldercare Locator have launched the 2021 Home for the Holidays campaign. The campaign brochure, Healthy Aging in a Pandemic World: What Older Adults and Caregivers Need to Know Now, describes the changes that families, friends and caregivers may notice among themselves and the older adults in their lives. The brochure poses questions readers should ask themselves and their loved ones as we all navigate this stage of the pandemic. It also and provides information on how older adults, caregivers and families can connect to services that agencies provide to address these changes.

This editorial, by the Center for Health Care Strategies (CHCS) and The John A. Hartford Foundation explores how employers and states can support employees with caregiving responsibilities through flexible workplace policies, tools, and resources. The editorial highlights resources from two states participating in CHCS’ Helping States Support Families Caring for an Aging America initiative.

RRF Foundation for Aging has released an issue brief on investing in caregiving. More than 53 million people are family caregivers who provide essential support to older adults. Estimates suggest that the care they provide is worth nearly half a trillion dollars, making caregivers the nation’s largest healthcare workforce. This brief provides an overview of the key issues around caregiver support and describes the work the foundation is funding to address these issues.

NIA has launched a new website designed to educate and support people whose lives are touched by Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. Alzheimers.gov is the federal government's portal to information and resources on Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias, including Lewy body dementia, frontotemporal disorders, and vascular dementia. It's goal is to connect people with Alzheimer’s, caregivers and advocates to federal resources that educate and support their needs.

On February 25. 2021, U.S. Senators Bob Casey (D-PA), Mark Kelly (D-AZ) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) introduced the Continued Funding for Senior Services During COVID-19 Act to ensure continued federal support for our Nation’s seniors. This legislation would allocate more than $1.5 billion to the aging network to continue providing essential services, such as meal delivery, vaccine outreach and programming and caregiver support.

This AARP Public Policy Institute research report examines support for family caregivers in managed long-term services and supports. The report finds that states have made progress in this area, but have opportunity to continue improving support for family caregivers in their MLTSS programs. One potential solution suggested by the report is to ensure that MLTSS contracts between states and health plans include clearly defined requirements to identify and support family caregivers.