Time to recognize & bolster family caregivers

Posted on September 12, 2015 Updated on September 12, 2015

The proposed Recognize, Assist, Include, Support, and Engage (RAISE) Family Caregivers Act would require the development of an integrated national strategy to provide resources for under-served family caregivers in the United States.  If you are not currently a caregiver for a loved one, you most likely will be, and no doubt you know of someone who is already an unpaid caregiver (as opposed to a hired caregiver) for a person in their family.

Source: Recognize, Assist, Include, Support, and Engage (RAISE) Family Caregivers Act – AARP

Many families, even those with young children, find themselves thrust into the role of caring for a loved one when they least expect it and can ill afford to.  Caregiving for a child or an adult with disabilities, or caring for an adult with a debilitating illness, has become the norm for many in the United States and abroad.

These caregivers “prepare meals, handle finances, manage medications, drive to doctors’ appointments, help with bathing and dressing, perform complex medical tasks and more – all so loved ones can live at home.”

Keep in mind, the above tasks are those they were already performing for their own household, tasks that multiplied exponentially with the increased needs of their disabled or ill family member.  Add a job outside of the home to all of that, and you have to wonder how these overworked and over-stressed heroes manage at all!  Read the rest of this entry »