Caregiver Crisis Essay

In the U.S, one in four will be aged 60 years and older by 2050 (U.S. Census Bureau). This represents an overwhelming number of people who will either be in the caretaker role or be the ROC. Like today, most of the care will be provided by informal unpaid caregivers. The number of informal unpaid caregivers is expected to rise from 20 million in 2000 to 37 million in 2050 (Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation [ASPE], 2003). Because of the burden of care giving, many caregivers will experience depression, poor health and quality of life (Etters, Goodall, & Harrison, 2008). Their well-being is an important public health concern.

Current numbers show substantial growth from the eighties, and estimates suggest that the demand for long term care among the elderly will more than double in the next thirty years. (Feder, Komisar, and Niefeld) This growth will exacerbate concerns about balancing institutional and noninstitutional care, assuring quality of care, and most importantly adopting and sustaining financing mechanisms that equitably and adequately protect the elderly who need long-term care.

With home care becoming the next wave of long-term care services that will help keep Baby Boomers out of institutional programs and skilled nursing facilities, it will require a supplemental add-on support for family members or the at home caregiver as respite care and compensation for this care will have to be financially addressed. Adult day services provide the aging adult with physical exercise, social activities, and cognitive engagement. The Baby Boomers independence and acknowledgment of traditional long-term care institutions will bring change to the style and type of adult day care activities offered, as they are more engaged with technology, and at keeping themselves as active as

daunting task of caring for a rapidly aging and ever expanding population1—the corollary of which is increased need for

The mission of Guardian Elder Care and Lakeview Senior Care and Living Center is to deliver superior healthcare in the communities where they serve. They provide compassionate care, long-term care, and in-home care to all of their patients and residents, which also brings comfort to their loved ones. Their therapists, nurses, and staff constantly strive to exceed the expectations, both of their patients and their families. Their commitment to passionate care, servant leadership, and continuous improvement results in outcomes that maximize the well-being of those to whom they provide

The policy that will be analyzed is the federal Older American Act Title III-E, which was approved by the Congress in 2000. It regulates National Family Caregiver Support Programs (NFCSP), a categorical non-income-tested program, aiming to provide direct services to informal family caregivers. Under the federal administration from AoA, the NFCSP is carried out through a network of 56 State Units on Aging (SUAs), 655 Area Agencies on Aging (AAAs) and local public or private institutions. Specifically, AAAs provide five-category services to caregivers by using the allocated NFCSP funding—information regarding services, assistance for accessing services, counseling/support groups/training, short-term respite and supplement services on a limited basis.

The article suggests that to decrease EOL elder abuse, residential and hospice caregivers need more education. Caregivers should know how to handle elders at the end of life stage and know their role as a caregiver. When caregivers know their roles it will assist in the reduction of on the job stress, and eliminate their codependency on the EOL elder. In addition, understanding the knowledge of laws may discourage caregivers from abusing victims. It’s important for both the caregiver and the family to understand what causes abuse, and the resources available to them.

The National Family Caregiver Support Program (NFCSP) was established in 2000 and “provides grants to states and territories” “to fund a range of supports that assist family and informal caregivers to care for their loved ones at home for as long as possible” (AOA, 2012). Some statistics on caregivers are that twenty-two percent of caregivers care for two individuals, while eight percent of caregivers care for three or more individuals (AOA, 2012). Interestingly almost half of all caregivers are actually over the age of fifty years old, which makes them more vulnerable to their own decline in health (AOA, 2012).

Policies and services such as; Medicare home health, Medicaid home health, and Medicaid waiver services are programs and assistant services that provide care and resilience to homebound careers’ and caregivers. Expanding or partnering these programs with likewise program in local communities may increase the careers’ mental health and safety at home, decrease stress of being a caregiver, and overall improve the relationship between caregivers and careers’. While these programs are often discussed as having upcoming cuts and being costly to taxpayers, having older adult stay at home with these programs would be most cost effective compared to the alternative of facility level care on taxpayers and individuals alike. Savings from providing more

The need for home care companion increases dramatically as Americans get older. By the year 2030, the number of people 65 years and older will require some type of assistance.

Informal caregivers of palliative care patients have increasing psychological and physical complications associated with the decompensation of their loved one. Throughout the years, there have been multiple avenues explored regarding the treatment of those participating in the care of a hospice patient. Only in recent years has there been an influx in the study of evidence-based interventions for informal caregivers (Fegg et al., 2013). However, only a few of these studies have been randomized controlled trials. Both “Existential behavioural therapy for informal caregivers of palliative patients: A randomised controlled trial” and “A Problem Solving Intervention for Hospice Caregivers: A Pilot Study” explore different treatment modalities to determine the best technique to assist informal caregivers. Fegg et al. (2013) employed a randomized control trial which focused on an essential component of existential behavioral therapy (EBT) known as mindfulness. While Demiris et al. (2010) utilized a Problem Solving Intervention (PSI) based off of a cognitive behavioral perspective. Although each intervention demonstrated effectiveness in treating

The ranks of American citizen that are 65 and older are expanding by the thousands daily. With more than 10,000 baby boomers turning 65 daily, the demographics are enhancing the senior housing market segment (Fabris, 2013). Approximately 3 million baby boomers will reach retirement age every year for the next 20 years, are leading the country through a sweeping societal change, impacting policies and health, housing and caregivers’ services and shape the health care system for decades to come (Mather, 2016). Though the majority of the elderly population would prefer to continue to live in their own homes, 5-8% of them will ultimately opt for seniors-only multifamily and assisted living housing (Mather, 2016). Moreover, the aging population requiring nursing home care, and the demand for elderly care will be powered by a precipitous rise in the number of American living with Alzheimer’s disease, which could rise to from 5 million in

Although medical advances have been tremendous in recent years in addressing several complications encountered as we get older, the compounding issues of the aging population have increased exponentially. At some point we have to decide whether the advantages of trying to stay alive longer outweigh natural life expectancy. How we deal with everything from housing to long-term medical care has escalated because the older population is growing significantly. In addition to taking care of aging parents, families are trying juggle dual working spouses and children in extracurricular activities. While having aging parents living with their children wasn’t unusual as little as two generations ago, the family dynamic has changed. Moreover, we

“Our population is aging rapidly, with the numbers of elders increasing almost four times as fast as the population as a whole” (Seccombe, 2015, p.433). Although we have children and a husband at home, we usually feel that it is our responsibility to take care of our loved ones. This is where a lot of stress begins to form. However, we can deal with stress by talking about it to a loved one, a support group, or taking a day to our selves. So, therefore, there are a lot of strains and stressors on many families who are taking care of an elderly and/or ailing family

The authors state there is one person as the primary caregiver, who is identified by the care recipient; this caregiver is responsible for the majority of the caregiver tasks and decision making. The next caregiver role is the secondary caregiver(s) who is identified by the primary caregiver; this caregiver implements tasks at the same level as the primary caregiver, but without the same degree of responsibility (Dilworth-Anderson et al., 1999) The third caregiver role that may be included in the family eldercare structure is as a tertiary caregiver, who is also identified by the primary caregiver as well; this caregiver provides care together with the primary caregiver, but has little to none decision making responsibilities regarding the