| A newsletter of FCA's National Center on Caregiving |
May 14, 2008
Volume VIII, Number 10
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IN THIS ISSUE
State Legislation, Policy & Reports
- California: Updated "Guideline for Alzheimer's Disease Management" More...
- Colorado Passes Law to Establish an Alzheimer's Coordinating Council More...
Federal Legislation, Policy & Reports
- Paid Family Leave Legislation Introduced More...
International News
- Canada: Paper Examines Integrated Care for the Elderly More...
Research Reports & Journal Articles
- "Determining Care Management Activities Associated with Mastery and Relationship Strain for Dementia Caregivers" More...
- Study Examines Sleep Patterns in Adults with Dementia and Their Caregivers More...
- New Report on Costs of Long-Term Care More...
Conferences & Trainings
- Save the Date: ASA Autumn Series on Aging September 2008 More...
Funding, Media & Miscellaneous
- FCA Launches New Family Care Navigator More...
- "Rescue Swimmers for Family Caregivers" More...
- Opinion Piece on Long-Term Care and the 2008 Election More...
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California: Updated "Guideline for Alzheimer's Disease Management"
An updated "Guideline for Alzheimer's Disease Management" was recently released by the California Workgroup on Guidelines for Alzheimer's Disease Management, with support from the California Department of Public Health. The guidelines support a team approach to quality management of Alzheimer's disease, include evidence that links positive patient outcomes to caregiver education and support, and cover treatment options, legal considerations and the importance of an accurate assessment. For more information, visit:
Alzheimer's Association - California Southland Chapter
Colorado Passes Law to Establish an Alzheimer's Coordinating CouncilThe Colorado legislature recently passed a bill (S.B. 58) to establish a Colorado Alzheimer's Coordinating Council, which will assess the current and future impact of Alzheimer's disease on the state. It will be charged with reviewing the current availability of services and resources for people with Alzheimer's disease, their families and their caregivers, as well as developing a comprehensive state plan with a short- and long-term approach to confronting the challenges presented by Alzheimer's disease. The Council will include one Alzheimer's caregiver and one person with early-stage Alzheimer's disease, among others. For more information, visit:
Colorado Legislature
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Paid Family Leave Legislation Introduced
On April 22, 2008, Representative Pete Stark (D-CA) introduced the Family Leave Insurance Act (H.R. 5873) which would provide up to twelve weeks of paid leave for workers who need time off to care for a seriously ill family member - including a spouse, child, parent, domestic partner, grandparent, grandchild and sibling, to care for a new child, or to recover from their own serious illness. The bill would create a Family Leave Insurance Fund, funded by premiums paid by both employers and workers, equal to 0.2% of each worker's earnings. All employees who have paid into the system for at least six months, including part-time employees, would receive between 45% and 100% of their weekly income, based on a progressively tiered system. The bill would also provide job protection for those workers who qualify for Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) benefits. For more information, visit:
Thomas
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Canada: Paper Examines Integrated Care for the Elderly
The Canadian Policy Research Networks (CPRN) released a paper May 1, 2008 for the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care which examines comprehensive models of integrated or coordinated care. The paper, a literature review by Margaret MacAdam called Frameworks of Integrated Care for the Elderly: A Systematic Review, identifies models of integrated health and social care that can result in improved outcomes, client satisfaction and/or cost savings or cost-effectiveness. In addition to aiding the care receiver, some of the key elements of these models - including multidisciplinary case management with packaged and coordinated services and organized provider networks with standard procedures and shared information systems - are features that would be of great benefit to family caregivers who are often responsible for coordinating all aspects of their family member's care. For more information, visit:
Canadian Policy Research Networks
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"Determining Care Management Activities Associated with Mastery and Relationship Strain for Dementia Caregivers"
A study by Dr. Karen Conner and colleagues published in the May 2008 issue of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society (Volume 56, Number 5) examined specific care management activities within a dementia care intervention in order to identify which activities were associated with caregivers' confidence in performing the tasks of providing care and with caregivers' perception of their relationship with the care receiver. The article, "Determining Care Management Activities Associated with Mastery and Relationship Strain for Dementia Caregivers," reveals that home assessments for specific needs of caregivers and dementia patients are associated with an increase in caregiver mastery; actions linking caregivers to community agencies for nonspecific needs were associated with a decrease in caregiver mastery; and no specific activities were associated with a change in caregiver relationship strain. For more information, visit:
Journal of the American Geriatrics Society
Study Examines Sleep Patterns in Adults with Dementia and Their Caregivers
The May 1, 2008 issue of the journal SLEEP published the results of a study which finds that sleep disturbances among adults with Alzheimer patients vary significantly from those of their family caregivers. Dr. Susan M. McCurry and her colleagues studied the caregivers' and care receivers' mood, physical function, medication use, caregiver behavior management style, and patient cognitive status. The study found that the sleep variables that showed the greatest night-to-night stability and variability, including the time they went to bed and the number of hours awake at night, differed between care receivers and caregivers. Poor sleep in either the adult with demenia or the caregiver is not necessarily linked to disturbed sleep in the other. For more information, visit:
Eurekalert
New Report on Costs of Long-Term Care
In April, Genworth Financial released its 2008 Cost of Care Survey which reveals that the costs for residential care have increased in recent years. The demand and cost for home care services are also on the rise. The survey reports on the average costs of home care providers, adult day health care, assisted living facilities and nursing homes by region, state, and in some cases, metropolitan area. The report also discusses impending workforce shortages in the field of aging. For more information, visit:
Genworth Financial
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Save the Date: ASA Autumn Series on Aging September 2008
The American Society on Aging (ASA) will host its Autumn Series on Aging from September 2-5, 2008 in San Francisco, and from September 22-25, 2008 in Philadelphia. The series offers regional training for professional who work with older adults, their caregivers and their families. For more information, visit:
American Society on Aging
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FCA Launches New Family Care Navigator
The National Center on Caregiving at Family Caregiver Alliance has launched the Family Care Navigator, a comprehensive online guide intended to help families in all 50 states and the District of Columbia locate government, nonprofit, and private caregiver support programs. The Navigator lists programs for family caregivers as well as resources for older or disabled adults living at home or in a residential facility. It also includes information on government health and disability programs, legal resources, living arrangements, disease-specific organizations, FAQs, a glossary and more. For more information, visit:
Family Care Navigator
"Rescue Swimmers for Family Caregivers"
Carol Levine, Director of the Families and Health Care Project at the United Hospital Fund and a caregiver to her husband for 17 years, wrote a short essay for Bioethics Forum on the need for services to rescue caregivers from "drowning," or to help with through the times when they are overwhelmed by the challenges of caregiving. She argues that information and referral services, which often send caregivers off with more phone numbers to call and searching to do, may be adequate for some but are not helpful to caregivers who are already overwhelmed. Instead, these caregivers need "rescue coaches" who can immediately observe their situation and offer realistic advice and support. For more information, visit:
Bioethics Forum
Opinion Piece on Long-Term Care and the 2008 Election
Dr. David Stevenson wrote a perspective piece in the May 2008 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine (Volume 358, Number 19), "Planning for the Future - Long-Term Care and the 2008 Election," which urged leadership from the presidential candidates on the issue of long-term care reform. Dr. Stevenson argued that the issue is of critical importance and yet is being largely ignored in presidential policy debates and discussions. For more information, visit:
New England Journal of Medicine
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©2008 Family Caregiver Alliance. All rights reserved.
The National Center on Caregiving at Family Caregiver Alliance works to advance the development of high-quality and cost-effective policies and programs for caregivers in every state in the country. The National Center is a central source of information and technical assistance on family caregiving for policymakers, health and service providers, program developers, funders, media and families. For questions or further information about the National Center on Caregiving, contact PolicyDigest@caregiver.org or visit the Family Caregiver Alliance website at www.caregiver.org.
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Caregiving PolicyDigest is a publication of the National Center on Caregiving at Family Caregiver Alliance, 180 Montgomery Street, Suite 1100, San Francisco, CA 94104.
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