Forwarded to us by Velma Harrison
Encouraging Family Caregivers to Speak Up
March 2010 E-Letter
to NFCA Online members and friends
This month, find information on:
- TAKE CARE! Coming to Your E-mail
- Speak Up: Participate in a National Survey on Patient Experiences This Week Only
- White House Task Force on the Middle Class Releases Initiatives Targeting Family Caregivers
- Do You Qualify for a Social Security Compassionate Allowance?
- Is Mom or Dad Coming to Live With You?
- Program Offers New Support for Caregivers of Medically Complex Patients
- Caregiver Wellness Survey Results Available
TAKE CARE! Coming to Your E-mail
The spring 2010 issue of TAKE CARE! will arrive in your e-mail box as a vibrant, interactive e-newsletter that provides you with easy access to additional information and links to the resources that can make your life a bit easier. This new electronic version of Take Care! will automatically appear in your e-mail and you will be able to print it out for free.
For those of you who wish to continue receiving TAKE CARE! in hard copy, it's not too late. Just convert your free NFCA membership to a paid membership at the introductory rate of $10 per year. To learn more about NFCA membership options, click here.
Speak Up: Participate in a National Survey on Patient Experiences This Week Only
The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) is conducting a national survey to learn more about what patients and their families expect from a high-quality medical practice. NCQA is the national organization that develops quality standards and performance measures for a wide range of healthcare organizations, including physician practices, to identify those that deliver high quality care and service. The results of the NCQA survey will be used to revise the standards for a practice to qualify for NCQA recognition as "patient-centered medical home."
The Campaign for Better Care is encouraging consumers to complete the survey. NCQA is interested in hearing from as many consumers as possible in this survey process. They want to know what consumers and patients really think about what is important in the healthcare system. Please take a few minutes to take the online survey. Survey comments will be accepted through this Friday, March 5. It's easy to do, and takes less than five minutes. Click here.
White House Task Force on the Middle Class Releases Initiatives Targeting Family Caregivers
The White House Task Force on the Middle Class has developed a new Caregiver Initiative in the FY 2011 Budget that includes a total of $50 million in additional funding for the National Family Caregiver Support Program to fund temporary respite care, counseling, training, and help with retrofitting homes to accommodate the needs of aging relatives. The extra funding will serve 200,000 additional caregivers and provide three million more hours of respite care.
The Caregiver Initiative also adds $50 million in funding to programs that provide transportation assistance for medical and other appointments, adult day care, and in-home services, such as aides to help seniors bathe, cook and clean. The new resources will support one million additional hours of adult day care and three million rides to critical daily activities.
This initiative is not exclusively focused on caregivers of the elderly. The Lifespan Respite Care Program, which will double in size, helps families caring for people of all ages. The complete text of the Family Caregiver initiatives is found on page 31 of the full report.
Do You Qualify for a Social Security Compassionate Allowance?
Social Security has an obligation to provide benefits quickly to applicants whose medical conditions are so serious that their conditions obviously meet disability standards. Compassionate allowances are a way of quickly identifying diseases and other medical conditions that invariably qualify under the Listing of Impairments based on minimal objective medical information. Compassionate allowances allow Social Security to quickly target the most obviously disabled individuals for allowances based on objective medical information.
Social Security has expanded the list of conditions eligible for compassionate allowances. To view the most up-to-date lists of compassionate allowance conditions, click here.
Is Mom or Dad Coming to Live With You?
Home Instead has published an informative article about the financial issues that arise when an older parent is considering moving in with his/her children. Check out the link in the article to the "Too Close for Comfort" calculator. This tool uses 15 questions to walk you through basic budget items, major issues, and some often-overlooked matters that could affect your decision. Use it to help you determine the financial alternatives of bringing Mom and Dad to your home or taking care of them in their own. To learn more, click here.
Program Offers New Support for Caregivers of Medically Complex Patients
A new program developed at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health has been shown to support family caregivers of older adults with complex health needs. Guided Care is a proactive, comprehensive healthcare model for people with several chronic health conditions. The Guided Care Program for Families and Friends (GCPFF), a component of Guided Care, seeks to improve the well-being of the family and friends who help care for the chronically ill. The program seeks to improve both patients' health and the well-being of their families and friends. Guided Care is a type of "medical home" in which the patient's care is closely coordinated by a specially trained registered nurse, working as a team with the patient's physician.
Caregiver Wellness Survey Results Available
NFCA's Nebraska Caregiver Community Action Network representative Eboni Green recently asked NFCA members to participate in a Caregiver Wellness Survey. The survey investigated relationships among mental and physical health risks, social networks, stress, and job satisfaction, as reported by frontline direct caregivers of the elderly and disabled in the United States. Perceptions of recent turnover among frontline direct caregivers were also explored to identify why professional frontline direct caregivers leave their jobs. Frontline direct caregivers reported high levels of stress, low levels of job satisfaction, and poor physical health, mental health, and social networks. To access Eboni's complete study results, please visit http://www.mycaregiverwellness.com/.
·national family caregivers association ·10400 Connecticut Ave ·Kensington, MD ·20895· 800.896.3650 800.896.3650 www.thefamilycaregiver.org
