Care Partnership; Help and Support for the Whole Team
Jul 19, 2012
Utah - Utah
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Being well-known in our family, community, or care partner team is extremely important to our well-being and sense of belonging. We are not talking about the traditional ways that Elders and their care partners might become known to one another with surface level information and broad generalizations. We are talking about creating ways that give people the time and support they need to really be able to know each others stories, so that they can anticipate and meet each others needs on a daily basis. Relationships should be deep enough that we can intuitively know what to do and naturally react to needs when they arise. Even family members may not be tuning into each to other to this degree sometimes because they assume they already have all of the answers. This is a pattern any of us could easily fall into. Once we have developed this kind of responsiveness with our Elder care partner, our job is to make sure that all other care partners on the team are equally committed to building relationships that have meaning.
The following statistics help paint the picture of caregiving the United States, and it is interesting to note that:
More than 65 million people, 29% of the U.S. population, provide care for a chronically ill, disabled or aged family member or friend during any given year and spend an average of 20 hours per week providing care for their loved one.
The value of the services family caregivers provide for "free," when caring for older adults, is estimated to be $375 billion a year. That is almost twice as much as is actually spent on homecare and nursing home services combined ($158 billion).
Fifty-one percent of care recipients live in their own home, 29% live with their family caregiver, and 4% live in nursing homes and assisted living.
40% to 70% of family caregivers have clinically significant symptoms of depression with approximately a quarter to half of these caregivers meet the diagnostic criteria for major depression.
(Statistics taken from Caregiving in the United States; National Alliance for Caregiving in collaboration with AARP. November 2009)
Former President Jimmy Carters wife Rosalyn was one of the first nationally-known figures to use her public status to raise American awareness about caregiving. She said, There are only four kinds of people in the world - those who have been caregivers, those who currently are caregivers, those who will be caregivers, and those who will need caregivers. I'm guessing each of us can relate to this quote somehow, some way. Given the statistics we just reviewed, the current pressures on our healthcare system, and growing political emphasis on community-based options for long-term care, we need lots of creative tools and options for caring for each other at home. We need creative, grass-roots solutions that inspire communities to see Elders AND the act of caring for one another in a new light. This is where Care Partnership comes into the picture and it is our responsibility to work together, learn together, and make a difference.
To learn more about Care Partnership or the Eden Alternative, please contact Diedra Kearney, Director of Community Education at Dignity Home Health & Hospice, and Chair of the Utah Elder Abuse Prevention Coalition. dkearney@dignityhlth.com, 801-860-3801.
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