ADvancing States Holds a Caregiver All-State Call
On January 23, ADvancing States held a Caregiver all-state call during which AARP staff discussed their plans to advance model legislation to support family caregivers; and Richard Nix, Executive Vice President of AgingCare.com, reviewed the new caregiver support website.
Click here to access the audio recording of the call.
AARP
Elaine Ryan, Vice President of State Advocacy and Strategy at AARP give an overview of AARP’s multi-state, multi-year campaign effort including AARP's 2014 State Advocacy Agenda, the resolution and plan to advance in 2014; and the Caregiver Advise, Record and Enable (CARE) Act. The CARE Act asks hospitals and rehabilitation facilities to:
1) record the name of the family caregiver in the hospital/facility record;
2)inform the family caregiver when a loved one is moved to another facility or home; and,
3) provide a demonstration of the medical tasks a family caregiver is asked to perform at home.
Susan Reinhard, SVP of Public Policy Institute, provided background on the Home Alone Report and the research supporting the need for the CARE Act.
A Caregiving Resolution was passed in five states in 2013 (Arizona, Illinois, Oklahoma, Tennessee and West Virginia) and an additional 19 AARP State offices are working to pass the Caregiving Resolution in 2014. The following states are working to pass the CARE Act: Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, and Tennessee. Ilene Henshaw, Director of State Health at AARP, provided background on the Caregiving Resolution and introduced brief remarks from AARP state office representatives from Hawaii, Oklahoma and Rhode Island.
Click here to access an additional AARP report discussed during the call entitled, Valuing the Invaluable: 2011 Update - The Growing Contributions and Costs of Family Caregiving. This report includes a table at the end that reports the number of caregivers and the economic value of caregiving, by state.
AgingCare.com
Richard Nix, Executive Vice President of AgingCare.com reviewed the website during the all-state call. AgingCare.com helps families face the challenge of providing care for an elderly loved one by providing a comfortable online meeting place where families can connect with knowledgeable professionals, responsive experts, and most importantly, with other caregivers for advice and support. The AgingCare.com agency platform provides agencies with free access to award-winning content by experts in elder care and a highly interactive question and answer forum specifically for caregivers. AgingCare.com reduces the burden on agency staff and budget by providing a wealth of online caregiver resources at no cost. Several states including Rhode Island, Tennessee, and Virginia, have used this resource on their state’s aging/disability websites.
Click here for more information on this valuable resource.
Click here to sign up online at no cost.
Richard Nix can be contacted with website questions at (718) 816-4287 or Richard.Nix@AgingCare.com.