If you are caring for a veteran who's diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, multiple sclerosis, dementia, post-traumatic stress disorder or spinal-cord injury or disorder, ask your
caregiver support coordinator about the REACH VA program.
Caregiver support could be cost-effective by helping improve the health of caregivers, and allowing more people with dementia to remain at home.
The need for dementia education and
caregiver support has risen with the aging of the "baby boomer" generation, mainly because those providing unpaid care are primarily family members and friends, not eldercare professionals, according to a news release from the organization.
Specific federal legislation and the implementation of programs, such as the 2000 National Family
Caregiver Support Program (NFCSP), the 2006 Lifespan Respite Care Act, and Real Choice System Change grants offered since 2001, offer some funding to states to support family caregiving in the home.
Other benefits include
caregiver support services, total homemaker services and additional stay-at-home services, such as payments for home modifications, medical equipment, caregiver training, home safety checks and medical alert systems.
We also started a
Caregiver Support Group, where caregivers and family members run monthly meetings and share ideas."
Caregiver support and education tend to be separated into programs that address the needs of professional or formal caregivers or the needs of family or informal caregivers.
Takamura has a long track record in developing long term care legislation, including creation of a modernized Older Americans Act and establishment of the National Family
Caregiver Support program in 2000.
Launched by the Academy for Educational Development (AED), the support pack provides the caregivers of children under five orphaned by AIDS in Kenya with urgently needed services and care items, such as a prepaid card good for full immunizations, as well as preschool fees, weekly home visits by a trained community mentor, and access to a
caregiver support group for one year.
Kaluzna leads
caregiver support groups for the local chapter of the Alzheimer's Association in Chicago.
The White House press release recognizing the designation contains praise for the National Family
Caregiver Support Program, which "gives family caregivers counseling, information, respite care, and supplemental services." Not noted is the fact that the administration's fiscal year 2004 budget proposes a $13 million cut in the program.
Caregiver support systems such as hospice are likely to reduce caregiver strain and consequent utilization of health care resources.
