National Caregivers Month: Helpful Hints

In the past month, Metlife Mature Market Institute, in collaboration with the National Alliance on Caregiving, has released six "Helpful Hints" publications, aimed at providing useful information to caregivers. These brief bulletins offer tips on common issues for caregivers, ranging from how to select an assisted living facility to how to advocate for a loved one in a healthcare situation.

Helpful Hints: Choosing an Assisted Living Facility: As a caregiver, you may be interested in exploring assisted living facilities as an option for your loved one instead of using in-home care. Assisted living facilities can provide your loved one with 24 hour medical care and a wide variety of social activities. Metlife offers 8 key considerations to take into account when you are selecting an assisted living facility as well as a variety of outside resources to help you with your decision.

Helpful Hints: If Care is Needed at Home: Paid care is another option for family caregivers who want to supplement the in-home care they are providing and offer their loved one the option of remaining in his or her home. This bulletin has advice on how to select an in-home caregiver as well as ways to monitor care and intervene if a problem arises.

Helpful Hints: Caregiving from a Distance: As a caregiver, you may not always be able to provide care directly in the home, or even directly in the same state as your loved one. That's why Metlife and NAC have come up with these tips and resources for caregivers who provide care from a distance. Their list of eight key considerations includes advice on how to develop an emergency response system, a list of important documents you may need, and several resources to help you develop a care plan.

Helpful Hints: Caregiving and Alzheimers Disease: Alzheimers introduces a host of new challenges for caregivers. This publication highlights ways you can improve your communication as a caregiver if you are providing care for a loved one with alzheimers. Tips include ways to communicate with your loved one as well as ways to improve communication with the other members of your caregiving team.

Helpful Hints: Advocating for a Family Member in a Healthcare Situation: Acting as an advocate for your loved one during healthcare situations can be a particularly frustrating, but profoundly important, component of being a caregiver. Metlife offers 10 tips for caregivers to help them become more effective and communicative advocates for their loved ones.

Helpful Hints: Choosing an Adult Day Center: You may want a long term care plan for your loved one that offers a middle ground between in home care and assisted living. One alternative is an adult day center. Adult day centers can provide your loved one with social stimulation as well as healthcare services while offering you daily time away from your caregiving responsibilities. This publication offers information on the different varieties of adult day centers as well as advice on how to choose one that will work best for you and your loved one.

It's Official: November Proclaimed National Family Caregivers Month

The White House just released a proclamation from President Bush that officially recognizes November as National Family Caregivers Month! You can read the proclamation below or check it out here:

For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
October 29, 2008

National Family Caregivers Month, 2008
A Proclamation by the President of the United States of America

During National Family Caregivers Month we recognize and celebrate the many individuals throughout our country who work each day to ensure a better quality of life for their family members. Through their selfless action, these caregivers provide their loved ones support and comfort as they age, combat illness, or suffer from disability.

Our Nation is compassionate, and we believe in the sanctity of life at all stages. Through tireless efforts and inspiring deeds, many Americans care for loved ones in need. By acting as in-home care providers, people across our Nation are helping to ensure that their family members are provided with love, comfort, and security. My Administration has worked to offer caregivers support and training. In 2006, I signed the Lifespan Respite Care Act of 2006, which established a program to help family caregivers get access to affordable and high-quality respite care. In addition, the National Family Caregiver Support Program encourages cooperation among government agencies and other organizations that support and work with family caregivers.

National Family Caregivers Month is an opportunity to recognize those who serve a cause greater than self and contribute to the well-being of their loved ones. Family caregivers are soldiers in America's armies of compassion and set an inspiring example for their fellow citizens.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim November 2008 as National Family Caregivers Month. I encourage all Americans to honor the selfless service of caregivers who support their loved ones in need.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-ninth day of October, in the year of our Lord two thousand eight, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-third.

GEORGE W. BUSH

What's Ahead: WISER Celebrates National Family Caregivers Month!

The Women’s Institute for a Secure Retirement, along with numerous national organizations, major corporations and community-based groups around the country, will celebrate National Family Caregivers Month (NFC Month) in November to thank and support our nation’s family caregivers.

According to the National Family Caregivers Association (NFCA), in any given year over 50 million people provide some level of caregiving services. Those services are valued at more than $306 billion dollars a year. Family caregivers provide more than 80% of all home care services. Of today’s family caregivers, 40% provide some level of nursing support. American businesses can lose as much as $34 billion each year due to employees’ need to care for loved ones 50 years of age or older.

WISER works to provide low and moderate income women (aged 18 to 65) with basic financial information aimed at helping them take financial control over their lives. Millions of women face difficult decisions every day while juggling jobs and caregiving responsibilities: 61% of family caregivers are women. WISER’s commitment to supporting family caregivers led to the publication of “Financial Steps for Caregivers: What You Need to Know About Money and Retirement,” a retirement and financial planning guide developed to specifically address the needs of family caregivers.

NFC Month is organized each year by the National Family Caregivers Association, a grass roots organization whose mission is to improve the overall quality of life of family caregivers and their loved ones. "This year we are encouraging people to speak up during NFC month." said Suzanne Mintz, NFCA president and co-founder. "One of the most important attributes on being an advocate for your loved one is the willingness and the ability to speak up and keep your eye on the ultimate goal: protecting not only the health and safety of your loved ones by for yourself as well."

To learn more about WISER or NFC Month, contact WISER at info@wiserwomen.org or visit our website at www.wiserwomen.org. Call NFCA at (800) 896-3650 or visit www.thefamilycaregiver.org.