A newsletter of FCA's National Center on Caregiving Family Caregiver Alliance | National Center on Caregiving | Fact Sheets & Publications |  Contact Us Subscribe | View Past Issues May 13, 2009 Volume IX, Number 10 IN THIS ISSUE State Legislation, Policy & Reports California: More Older Californians Are Still Working  More... District of Columbia: "Marilyn Daniel's Reward" Reveals Home Care Policy Challenges  More... Michigan: SeniorBrigade.com Aids Seniors and Families  More... Virginia: Two Reports Look at State's Growing, Diverse Older Population  More... Federal Legislation, Policy & Reports Public Comments Due May 15 on Policy Options for Delivery System Reform  More... The Medicare Early Access Act Introduced May 1  More... Community Choice Act Sparks Demonstration at White House  More... Obama Picks Kansan Kathy Greenlee for Assistant Secretary for Aging  More... International News European Commission Report Addresses Age-Related Expenditure Projections  More... United Kingdom: National Statistics Office Depicts People Over 50  More... Research Reports & Journal Articles CDC Reports One in Five American Adults Are Disabled  More... Two Studies Find Caregiving Benefits Caregivers  More... Survey Shows Economic Downturn Affects Family Caregiving  More... New Issue Brief Looks at Medicare and Medicaid Spending for Dual Eligibles  More... Conferences & Trainings San Francisco Alzheimer's/Dementia Summit, July 8  More... "Aging with Passion and Purpose" Conference on Aging, October 18-19  More... Funding, Media & Miscellaneous "Professional Partners Supporting Family Caregivers" Wins Gold Award  More... Kaiser Permanente Awards Community Benefit Grants for First Quarter 2009  More... HBO Provides Free Access to "The Alzheimer's Project" Films and Resources  More... Manual Offers Measures for Children and Young People Who Are Caregivers  More... back to top State Legislation, Policy & Reports California: More Older Californians Are Still Working "More Californians are Working Later in Life," in the California Budget Project's Policy Points, April 2009, shows that the employment rate among Californians between the ages of 55 and 64 rose 8.2 percentage points between 1995 and 2008. "The employment rate of women at or near retirement age has steadily increased since 1979, while that of similarly aged men declined and then rebounded,"  the article says. Factors contributing to longer work lives include improved health, longer life expectancy, the shift from "defined benefit" to "defined contribution" pension plans and changes in the Social Security program, which create a financial incentive to keep working. For more information, visit: California Budget Project District of Columbia: "Marilyn Daniel's Reward" Reveals Home Care Policy Challenges Writer Paula Span in the May 8 Washington Post follows home-care  aide Marilyn Daniel, a 63-year-old employee of nonprofit Home Care Partners, on her rounds. Daniel, who is 63 and a Trinidad native, sees six seniors a week.  A picture emerges of long hours, hard work, poor compensation, high risk, compassionate dedication and remarkable family caregivers, including a woman, 104, caring for her sister, 91, who has Alzheimer's disease. To provide policy context, Span taps experts Dorie Seavey of PHI, a nonprofit that seeks to improve direct-care work, Leonila Vega of Direct Care Alliance, a nonprofit formed to push better pay and conditions for caregivers, and Robyn Stone, director of Better Jobs, Better Care, a foundation-funded initiative aimed at improving the direct care workforce. The article sheds light on demand, cost and working conditions, including cumbersome regulations that drive workers and families to "the gray market." For more information, visit: Washington Post Michigan: SeniorBrigade.com Aids Seniors and Families Thanks to Attorney General Mike Cox, Microsoft and Wal-Mart, a new one-stop website aimed at Michigan seniors, caregivers and family members is up and running, says Chris Christoff in the May 4, 2009, Detroit Free Press. The site, seniorbrigade.com, provides tips on a wide array of topics such as prescription drug prices, financial planning and fraud, consumer alerts, health care issues and veterans' services.  It has links to a wide variety of state and federal programs and includes information for veterans on employment, education benefits and health care. For more information, visit: SeniorBrigade.com Detroit Free Press Virginia: Two Reports Look at State's Growing, Diverse Older Population The University of Virginia's Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service recently issued two resources portraying Virginia's senior population. "Stat Chat: Older Virginians" came out in January 2009, containing charts and graphs that present a snapshot of older Virginians. The Center's The Virginia News Letter (Vol. 85, No. 2), April 2009, features a study on the state's growing older population. According to demographer Qian Cai, author of "Virginia's Diverse and Growing Population," people over the age of 65 will make up 19 percent of the state's population by 2030, compared to 12 percent today, and this size of this age group will double (from 900,000 to 1.8 million). Among the challenges Cai sees are increasing demands on health care and family relationships and support for those in need of health assistance. She also identifies numerous advantages of having more seniors. For more information and to download these resources, visit: The Cooper Center back to top Federal Legislation, Policy & Reports Public Comments Due May 15 on Policy Options for Delivery System Reform The Senate Finance Committee is moving quickly to draft a health care reform bill. On April 29, 2009, the Committee issued a 48-page policy options paper, "Transforming the Health Care Delivery System: Proposals to Improve Patient Care and Reduce Health Care Costs." Three sections of special interest for caregivers include Payment for Transitional Care Activities, a Chronic Care Management Innovations Center, and Payments to Medicare Advantage Plans on Chronic Care Management. The public is invited to send comments on the paper to Health_Reform@finance-dem.senate.gov by May 15. For more information and to download the report, visit: U. S. Senate Finance Committee  The Medicare Early Access Act Introduced May 1 Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) and Sen. Benjamin  Cardin (D-MD) introduced S. 960 to allow people between 55 and 64 to buy early health-care coverage under the Medicare program. Paul J. Nyden, in the May 8 Charleston Gazette, quoted Rockefeller, who chairs the Senate Finance  Subcommittee on Health Care, as saying, "People between ages 55 and 65 are the fastest growing group of  uninsured Americans. These individuals often have a difficult time buying health insurance on their own because they tend to have  more chronic health problems that can result in either the denial of  coverage, limited coverage or very expensive policies." The bill would amend Title XVIII of the Social Security Act, the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 to increase access to affordable health care and allow a refundable and advanceable credit against income tax for payment of such premiums. It would also protect the solvency of Medicare, note the senators. For more information, visit: Charleston Gazette Thomas Community Choice Act Sparks Demonstration at White House According to the Washington Post, advocates gathered on April 27 in front of the White House to raise awareness of the Community Choice Act of 2009 (S. 683/H.R. 1670). Introduced in the Senate on March 24 by Sen. Thomas Harkin (D-IA) and in the House by Rep. Danny Davis (D-IL) on March 23, this bill would amend Title XIX of the Social Security Act to provide individuals who are eligible for nursing home services or other institutional care equal access to community-based services and supports.  The bill would increase federal funds to help states develop their long-term care infrastructure and enhance home and community-based services. For more information, visit Washington Post Thomas Obama Picks Kansan Kathy Greenlee for Assistant Secretary for Aging On May 4 President Obama announced he had sent the nomination of Kathy J. Greenlee to the Senate for confirmation as Assistant Secretary for Aging, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. When Secretary of Aging for Kansas (January 2006 to present), Greenlee oversaw a department with 192 full-time staff members, a budget of $495 million and responsibility for the state's Older Americans Act programs, the distribution of Medicaid long-term care payments, and regulation of nursing home licensure and survey processes. She previously served as State Long-Term Care Ombudsman in Kansas, general counsel at the Kansas Insurance Department and Chief of Staff and Chief of Operations for then Governor Kathleen Sebelius, now Secretary, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. For more information, visit: White House Press Office back to top International News European Commission Report Addresses Age-Related Expenditure Projections A 221-page document, "The 2009 Ageing Report: Underlying Assumptions and Projection Methodologies for the EU-27 Member States (2007-2060)," provides background for age-related expenditure projections for all Member States from 2009 to 2060. The Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN Council) expects this month to receive age-related expenditure information, based on these assumptions and methods. Included are costs for pensions, health care, long-term care, education and unemployment transfers. The long-term projections show in which countries, when, and to what extent aging pressures will accelerate as the baby-boom generation retires and average life span in the EU continues to increase. The projections help highlight immediate and future policy challenges that demographic trends pose for governments. For more information, visit: ECOFIN United Kingdom: National Statistics Office Depicts People Over 50 The Office for National Statistics updated its "Focus on Older People" online overview May 1, 2009. This overview offers quick facts about the over-50 population throughout the United Kingdom on population, housing, health and wellbeing, income and expenditure, health and social care, quality of life, living arrangements, labor market and lifestyles, with links to detailed information. For example, the fact for "Health and Social Care" is " 2.8m aged 50+ provide unpaid care." A click brings details on care received by older people from the National Health Service as well as information on older people as care providers, such as "Around a quarter of older informal carers are providing 50 or more hours of unpaid care a week." Focus on Older People also allows download of a full report with more comprehensive analysis, a summary report and an article on "Ageing and Mortality in the UK." For more information, visit Focus on Older People back to top Research Reports & Journal Articles CDC Reports One in Five American Adults Are Disabled The Center for Disease Control and Prevention's May 1 Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 58(16):421-426, reports "Prevalence and Most Common Causes of Diability among Adults, United States, 2005." The number of U.S. adults with a disability increased by 3.4 million between 1999 and 2005, although the proportion remained constant. About one in five (21.8%) Americans aged 18 and older say they are disabled. The three most common causes of disability among adults in the United States are arthritis or rheumatism, back or spine  problems, and heart disease. For more information, visit: CDC MMWR Two Studies Find Caregiving Benefits Caregivers William E. Haley and colleagues' "Problems and Benefits Reported by Stroke Family Caregivers: Results from a Prospective Epidemiological Study," in Stroke, 2009 Apr 30 [Epub ahead of print], reports that caregivers of stroke patients experienced problems in dealing with patients' mood, memory and physical care at a much lower level than seen in previous research and that caregivers also report many benefits from caregiving. Ninety percent said caregiving enabled them to appreciate life more. Although caregivers gave an average of 36.9 hours of care per week and 44 percent reported "some strain," the researchers recommend that interventions focus not only on coping with problems but also attend to the perceived benefits of caregiving. Similarly, Stephanie L. Brown and colleagues' article, "Caregiving Behavior Is Associated with Decreased Mortality Risk," in Psychological Science 20(4), 2009, 488-494, reports that spending 14 hours a week providing care to a spouse predicted longer life for the caregiver. For more information, visit: Medical News Today PubMed Psychological Science Survey Shows Economic Downturn Affects Family Caregiving Results from the Caregiving Survey of the Economic Downturn and Its Impact on Family Caregiving,  published April 28, 2009, by Evercare, UnitedHealthcare and the National Alliance on Caregiving, show that one in seven family caregivers provide a decreased amount of care due to the recession. A total of 1,005 caregivers were interviewed between February 25 and March 19, 2009, over the telephone. About half of working caregivers said they were less comfortable asking for time away from work for caregiving duties; two out of five (43%) had endured pay cuts at their jobs or a reduction in work hours in the past year; and 15 percent had lost their jobs. Almost one in five said they had seen a decline in the quality of care received by their loved ones. For more information and to download the report, visit: National Alliance for Caregiving New Issue Brief Looks at Medicare and Medicaid Spending for Dual Eligibles "Where Does the Burden Lie? Medicaid and Medicare Spending for Dual Eligible Beneficiaries," by  Teresa Coughlin and colleagues, published April 30, comes from the Kaiser Family Foundation's Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured. The authors use data from the 2003 Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey and the 2003 Medicaid Statistical Information System Summary File to look at the demographic and health characteristics of this population and their patterns of service utilization and spending under both programs. Compared to other Medicare beneficiaries, dual eligibles are poorer and sicker and use more hospital, nursing home and emergency room care. Although "non duals" outnumber "duals" four to one (30.2 million versus 7.1 million), Medicare and Medicaid spend more for duals than Medicare does for nonduals ($147.9 billion in 2003, compared to $137.7 billion for Medicare only beneficiaries); Medicaid covers nearly 60 percent of total spending for the dual population. For more information and to download the report, visit: Kaiser Family Foundation back to top Conferences & Trainings San Francisco Alzheimer's/Dementia Summit, July 8 The Alzheimer's/Dementia Summit will take place in San Francisco City Hall on July  8. A panel will discuss the new Alzheimer's/Dementia Task Force report during the morning with workshops in the afternoon.  Family Caregiver Alliance is coordinating this free forum to give caregivers an opportunity to shape public policy and create a blueprint for care in San Francisco and California. For more information, visit: Family Caregiver Alliance 2.  "Aging with Passion and Purpose" Conference on Aging, October 18-19 This biennial conference occurs next at the University of Nebraska at Omaha on October 18 and 19, 2009, with the theme of "Social and Spiritual Dimensions of Aging and Caregiving." Co-sponsors include the Center for Healthy Aging, Ministries, Programs and Services (CHAMPS), the University of Nebraska at Omaha Department of Gerontology and seven other organizations. Deadline for submitting presentation ideas is June 5. For more information, visit: CHAMPS back to top Funding, Media & Miscellaneous "Professional Partners Supporting Family Caregivers" Wins Gold Award The September 2008 American Journal of Nursing 108(9) Supplement, "Professional Partners Supporting Family Caregivers," has won the Gold Award for Special Supplement from the American Society for Healthcare Publishing Editors (ASHPE). This publication presents recommendations from a "state of the science" interdisciplinary symposium on family caregiving for older adults, held in January 2008, with funding from the John A. Hartford Foundation and the Jacob and Valeria Langeloth Foundation. For more information and to download a list of the winners in all categories, visit: ASHPE AJN Kaiser Permanente Awards Community Benefit Grants for First Quarter 2009 Among the $13 million in grants and donations made by Kaiser Permanente in the first quarter of 2009, several focus on improving care for the elderly. According to Ray Baxter, senior vice president, Kaiser Permanente Community Benefit, Research and Health Policy, "In these times of great need, we must strengthen support for the most vulnerable people in our communities, such as the uninsured and the elderly." The South Asian Network's Elder Caregivers Program of Los Angeles received a grant of $100,000 to support education of South Asian caregivers for the elderly on aging issues, monthly culturally sensitive workshops and peer support group activities.  The University of Southern California won a grant of  $240,000 for the Andrus Gerontology Center to build a sustainable Fall  Prevention Coalition and strategic plan to provide services, help  reduce injuries from falls, and provide training and advocacy for  culturally diverse, underserved communities. For more information, visit: Kaiser Permanente HBO Provides Free Access to "The Alzheimer's Project" Films and Resources According to Elizabeth Jensen in the May 2 New York Times, "HBO Puts Alzheimer's Under the Microscope."  HBO teamed up with the National Institute on Aging and the Alzheimer's Association for the "Alzheimer's Project." It includes a four-part documentary series that aired the week of May 10; 15 short supplemental films; a robust website; and a nationwide community-based information and outreach campaign. All films can be streamed free of charge on HBO's website (hbo.com). Maria Shriver, whose father has Alzheimer's disease, served as executive producer for the series. The project's goal," she said, "is to give people hope." Public Affairs Books published The Alzheimer's Project Book as a companion to the project and a DVD is available. For more information, visit: New York Times HBO Manual Offers Measures for Children and Young People Who Are Caregivers In March, the Princess Royal Trust for Carers, in association with Young Carers International Research and Evaluation, School of Sociology and Social Policy, The University of Nottingham in the United Kingdom, published the The Manual for Measures of Caring Activities and Outcomes for Children and Young People. Written by Stephen Joseph, Fiona Becker and Saul Becker, this practical, "hands-on" resource is intended to give researchers and practitioners useful tools for assessing caregiving activities and caring outcomes when the caregiver is a child or a young person. According to the authors, "The instruments in this Manual have been developed and tested with over 500 young carers so can be used with confidence." The manual is available through a free download. For more information, visit: The Princess Royal Trust back to top To find caregiver support services in your state, visit FCA's Family Care Navigator http://caregiver.org/caregiver/jsp/fcn_content_node.jsp?nodeid=2083 ?2009 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. To subscribe or unsubscribe to Caregiving PolicyDigest, use the following link: www.caregiver.org/caregiver/jsp/content_node.jsp?nodeid=836 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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