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| Home > Newsletters > Caregiving PolicyDigest > Volume VIII, Number 3, February 6, 2008
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| A newsletter of FCA's National Center on Caregiving |
February 6, 2008
Volume VIII, Number 3
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IN THIS ISSUE
State Legislation, Policy & Reports
- Arizona, Florida, Oregon, Wisconsin: GAO Study Examines End-of-Life Care Programs in Four States More...
- New Jersey: Senate Committee Approves Family Leave Insurance Legislation More...
Federal Legislation, Policy & Reports
- New Law Expands FMLA for Family Caregivers of Soldiers Returning Home More...
- President's Budget Proposes Level Funding for the NFCSP, No Funding for Lifespan Respite More...
International News
- Netherlands: Older Adults Receive Increased Hours and Intensity of Formal Care More...
Research Reports & Journal Articles
- Training for Dementia Patients and Their Caregivers Proves Successful and Cost-Effective More...
- Article Highlights Importance of Caregiver Assessment in Families of Adults with MS
More...
Conferences & Trainings
- American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry Annual Meeting March 14-17 More...
Funding, Media & Miscellaneous
- FCA's Update Now Available Via Email More...
- CNN Article Focuses on Long-Distance Caregiving More...
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Arizona, Florida, Oregon, Wisconsin: GAO Study Examines End-of-Life Care Programs in Four States
A December 2007 report from GAO examines end-of-life care programs in four states, Arizona, Florida, Oregon and Wisconsin, in order to show how these states incorporate key components of end-of-life care into their programs and to identify the challenges they face in doing so. In delivering end-of-life care, these states incorporated care management, supportive services, pain and symptom management, family and caregiver support, and the use of electronic medical records. One of the challenges for program providers was delivering services, such as home care, home-delivered meals and caregiver support, to rural areas. For more information, visit:
GAO
New Jersey: Senate Committee Approves Family Leave Insurance LegislationFour days after being introduced, a bill to establish Family Leave Insurance was approved by the New Jersey Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee on January 28, 2008. The legislation (S.786/A. 2080) would expand the state's Temporary Disability Insurance (TDI) program to cover workers who take leave to care for a seriously ill family member, including a child, spouse, domestic partner or parent, or to bond with a newly born or adopted child. Workers on leave would be able to receive up to two-thirds of their normal paycheck (capped at $524 a week) for up to 6 weeks over a 12 month period. The program would be funded through a small payroll deduction ranging from 34 cents a week for minimum wage workers up to 64 cents for anyone making over $27,700 a year. This legislation is part of an ongoing effort in recent months to establish paid family leave in New Jersey. For more information, visit:
New Jersey Citizen Action
New Jersey Time to Care Coalition
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New Law Expands FMLA for Family Caregivers of Soldiers Returning Home
The National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2008 (H.R. 4986), signed into law on January 28, 2008, included provisions to expand the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) which were originally contained in the Support for Injured Servicemembers Act (S. 1894). The new law will allow workers to take up to 26 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave - compared to the current allowance of 12 weeks - to care for enlisted family members seriously injured in combat. Family members eligible for this FMLA provision include a servicemember's spouse, child, parent or other next of kin. For more information, visit:
National Partnership for Women and Families
Thomas
President's Budget Proposes Level Funding for the NFCSP, No Funding for Lifespan Respite
On February 4, 2008, President Bush released his proposed budget for Fiscal Year (FY) 2009, which includes a $30 million funding cut for the Administration on Aging (AoA). It provides level funding for most AoA programs, including $153 million for the National Family Caregiver Support Program (NFCSP), which is a decrease from $156 million two years ago. The budget also proposes significant cuts to Medicare and Medicaid funding and provides no funding for the Lifespan Respite Care Act, a new program that passed into law in December 2006 but has yet to be funded. For more information, visit:
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
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Netherlands: Older Adults Receive Increased Hours and Intensity of Formal Care
Statistics Netherlands, an independent government agency in the Netherlands, released data on January 15, 2008 which revealed that the volume of care provided to older adults in the country is growing faster than the population of people with long-term care needs. In particular, the number of hours of formal care and the intensity of the care provided increased at a higher rate between 2002 and 2006 than did the growth rate for the number of people receiving home care. In addition, the number of people living in nursing homes decreased. For more information, visit:
Statistics Netherlands
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Training for Dementia Patients and Their Caregivers Proves Successful and Cost-Effective
An article in BMJ, a journal of the British Medical Association, published results of a study in its January issue which reveals that an occupational therapy intervention with dementia patients and their family caregivers was successful and cost-effective. The article, "Community occupational therapy for older patients with dementia and their caregivers: cost effectiveness study" by Maud Graff and her colleagues, explains that dementia patients learned to use aids to compensate for cognitive decline and their caregivers received trainings on coping behaviors and supervision. The intervention proved to be especially successful for family caregivers. For more information, visit:
BMJ
Article Highlights Importance of Caregiver Assessment in Families of Adults with MS
An article in the February 2008 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience Nursing, "Assessment of Caregiver Burden in Families of Persons with Multiple Sclerosis," discusses the importance of recognizing and assessing family caregivers' level of burden in order to determine appropriate interventions. Based on a review of the literature, Dr. Marijean Buhse explains factors that contribute to caregiver burden experienced by family members caring for someone with MS. The article highlights ways in which health care professionals can assess caregiver burden. For more information, visit:
Journal of Neuroscience Nursing
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American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry Annual Meeting March 14-17
The American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry will hold its Annual Meeting March 14-17, 2009 in Orlando, Florida. The theme this year is "Meeting the Needs of a Diverse Aging Population." The regular registration deadline is February 25. For more information, visit:
American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry
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FCA's Update Now Available Via Email
Family Caregiver Alliance's award-winning quarterly newsletter, Update, is now available as a free email subscription. The newsletter features national, state and local news; caregiving advice for families, policy makers, providers and program developers; book reviews; a calendar of events and more. For more information or to subscribe, visit:
Family Caregiver Alliance
CNN Article Focuses on Long-Distance Caregiving
On January 31, 2008, CNN published an online story that highlights the challenges of long-distance caregiving. The article by Elizabeth Cohen, "Caring from Mom and Dad from afar," describes the experience of an adult daughter living in Washington, D.C. and, as an only child, making sure that her aging parents in Los Angeles had the support and care they needed. It describes the guilt many long-distance caregivers feel, and it provides tips for being an effective long-distance caregiver. For more information, visit:
CNN
FCA's "Handbook for Long-Distance Caregivers"
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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 info@caregiver.org or visit the Family Caregiver Alliance website at www.caregiver.org.
To subscribe to Caregiving PolicyDigest, use the following link: www.caregiver.org/caregiver/jsp/content_node.jsp?nodeid=346
Or, contact Family Caregiver Alliance using our toll-free phone number: (800) 445-8106
Your subscription information is used only for the purpose of improving this service and tailoring it to the needs of its audience. Information provided to us will not be shared with any other organization, agency, corporation, entity or third party.
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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