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| Home > Newsletters > Caregiving PolicyDigest > Volume IX, Number 15, July 22, 2009
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| A newsletter of FCA's National Center on Caregiving |
July 22, 2009
Volume IX, Number 15
Summer Break Ahead-"Beach Reading" Below
See you next on August 19
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IN THIS ISSUE
State Legislation, Policy & Reports
- Colorado: Governor Urges State Residents to "Own Your Own Future" More...
- Massachusetts: Retirement Community Offers "At Home" Help to Public More...
- CBPP Reports Show Most States Face Big Cuts and New Taxes More...
- State Health Care Briefs 2009 Focus on Importance to States of Health Care Reform
More...
Federal Legislation, Policy & Reports
- The Rules of the Game: The Legislative Process Portrayed for Health Care Reform More...
- Senate HELP Committee's Affordable Health Choices Act Includes CLASS More...
- Upcoming Grandparents Day 2009 Prompts Census Fact Sheet More...
International News
- Canada: Survey Shows 5 Million Canadians Care for Ill Relatives More...
- China: Youth Feel Pressure to Look after Aging Parents More...
- Nigeria: "National Agency for Elderly Persons" Bill Passed by Senate More...
- United Kingdom: Department of Health Releases Green Paper on Future of Care More...
Research Reports & Journal Articles
- CDC Report Reveals Health Disparities among Americans Age 55 and Older More...
- National Poll Shows Broad Public Support for Long-Term Care in Health Reform More...
- Dementia Issue Looks at End-of-Life Care from Many Perspectives More...
Conferences & Trainings
- 11th Annual Conference of the Retirement Research Consortium, August 10-11 More...
- ASA 2009 Regional Conferences on Aging, September 8-11 and September 21-24 More...
Funding, Media & Miscellaneous
- The New York Times Magazine Considers the Case for Health Care Rationing More...
- The Guardian Depicts Daily Life in an English Nursing Home More...
- Harrah's Foundation Gives AARP Foundation $1.1 Million for Caregiving More...
- FCA News: August 14 Deadline for Awards Application, Two New Fact Sheets More...
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Colorado: Governor Urges State Residents to "Own Your Own Future"
"While hiking and biking keep me healthy, getting older is a fact of life, and the right thing to do is to be prepared," said Gov. Bill Ritter, who is campaigning to get Coloradoans to purchase long-term care insurance. Claire Trageser, writing in the July 8 Denver Post, quotes Gov. Ritter: "I want to encourage everyone to make healthy decisions and plan for your future and your family." According to Genworth Financial, a private room in a Colorado nursing home currently costs $85,410 a year. To help Coloradoans prepare, the State's website, Own Your Future Colorado, offers planning tools and resource links, including one to the Colorado Long-term Care Partnership program. For more information, visit:
Denver Post
Own Your Future Colorado
Massachusetts Retirement Community Offers "At Home Help to Public
Elizabeth Rom and Jim Kinney, in the July 14 The Republican, describe an a la carte service program that began in 2002 to serve a retirement community and expanded in May to serve seniors throughout Western Massachusetts. Glenmeadow at Home assists seniors with day-to-day tasks. "We can help them as much or as little as they need, " said Richard E. Cabral, director of community services for Glenmeadow, a non-profit provider of assisted and independent living facilities. The program can provide everything from gutter-cleaning, to transportation for medical appointments, to setting up social activities or a personal trainer. "They don't need to get a package with other services that aren't necessary for them," he explained. Glenmeadow staff will do most of the work, including handyman services, some health care aid and companionship, and contract with trusted vendors for the rest. For more information, visit:
The Republican
CBPP Reports Show Most States Face Big Cuts and New Taxes
Three recent reports from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, an organization focused on federal and state fiscal policy and public programs affecting low- and moderate-income families and individuals, track how states are trying to close gaping holes in their budgets. Iris J. Lav and Elizabeth McNichol show in "State Budget Troubles Worsen" (June 29) that fiscal woes are widespread. Ongoing shortfalls in tax receipts totaling $166 billion or 24 percent of state budgets have spurred 48 states to take action. Nicholas Johnson, Phil Orff and Jeremy Koulish, in "An Update on State Budget Cuts" (June 29), zero in on the programs affected. At least 22 states and the District of Columbia have either cut medical, rehabilitative, home care or other services needed by low-income elderly or disabled people, or substantially increased the cost of such services. On July 9, Mr. Johnson with Andrew Nicholas and Steven Pennington updated "Tax Measures Help Balance State Budgets." They point out that 30 states have enacted tax hikes this year and another seven are considering doing so. "Tax increases can be less ... damaging to state economies than the likely alternative: deep cuts in services," they suggest. For more information and to download these reports, visit:
CBPP
State Health Care Briefs 2009 Focus on Importance to States of Health Care Reform
AARP's Knowledge Management group published a set of State Health Care Briefs last month. The briefs provide health care facts for each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Each fact sheet has data on the state's older population; the uninsured between ages 50 and 64; Medicare beneficiaries, including Part D "doughnut hole" and hospital re-admission information; and Medicaid spending for institutional and home-based care. For more information, visit:
AARP
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The Rules of the Game: The Legislative Process Portrayed for Health Reform
Are you confused about what's happening on the Hill as those many health care reform bills weave their way through Congress? Help is at hand. The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation has produced a free online tutorial that covers who does what, and in which order, all in less than 19 minutes. Alan Schlobohm, Senior Program Administrator and the Foundation's analyst of Congressional affairs, conducts the tutorial. Log on and you will learn about each and every House and Senate committee involved, enjoy clear diagrams of the process and get better acquainted with all the key players. For more information, visit:
Kaiser Family Foundation
Senate HELP Committee's "Affordable Health Choices Act" Includes CLASS
On July 15, the Health, Education, Labor and Pension (HELP) Committee, chaired by Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA) and led by Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT) in Sen. Kennedy's absence, approved the "Affordable Health Choices Act," which included the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports Act (CLASS Act, originally introduced by Sen. Kennedy as S. 697 and by Rep. Frank Pallone, Jr., D-NJ, as H.R. 1721). The previous week Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius sent a letter to Sen. Kennedy signaling Administration support for CLASS, which would help people put aside money to pay for nursing home, assisted living or in-home care. As reported by Joseph Shapiro on NPR's "All Things Considered," Sec. Sebelius wrote that President Obama "believes it is appropriate to include the CLASS Act as part of health reform because enactment of this important legislation would expand resources available to individuals and families to purchase long-term services and supports to enable them to remain in their own homes in the community." An analysis by the Congressional Budget Office said the CLASS Act would actually save money by delaying nursing home use and keeping people out of the hospital through home care. Senator Mike Enzi (R-WY) and others questioned the CBO's analysis. For more information, visit:
Senate HELP Committee
NPR
Thomas
Upcoming Grandparents Day 2009 Prompts Census Fact Sheet
The U.S. Census Bureau released a "Facts for Features" on July 13 focused on Grandparents Day 2009, which will be September 13. Besides providing a brief history of this annual observance, the two-page document offers data profiling grandparents as caregivers. For example, 2.5 million grandparents are responsible for most of the basic needs of one or more grandchildren who lived with them in 2007, and 1.5 million of these grandparents were in the labor force, too. For more information, visit:
Census Bureau
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Canada: Survey Shows 5 Million Canadians Care for Ill Relatives
A survey commissioned by Home Instead Senior Care examined senior caregiving in Canada and the growing number of households with grandparents, parents and children living together under one roof. As reported by Shannon Proudfoot, Canwest News Service, results released on July 1 show that 5 million Canadians are caring for a loved one with long-term health problems. One in four of these caregivers spend at least 40 hours a week providing care. About one-third have children under 18 living at home. Nearly half of all caregivers (46 percent) rate the quality of their life as very good or excellent, but those whose aging relatives live with them are more likely to give a low rating. For more information, visit:
The Vancouver Sun
China: Youth Feel Pressure to Look after Aging Parents
Tan Yingzi, in China Daily June 29, reports that the rapid graying of the population, combined with only-child families prevalent in the 1970s and 1980s under the national family planning policy, is causing some young Chinese people to return from America to China to care for their parents. Due to traditional filial piety as well as inadequate public services for aging people, they feel pressured by the task of looking after two parents. A recent survey of 3,144 people born in the late 1970s and early 1980s found that more than half felt it was a big burden as an only child to care for two parents; nearly 70 percent said they feel incapable of taking good care of their parents because of pressures they face at work. For more information, visit:
China Daily
Nigeria: "National Agency for Elderly Persons" Bill Passed by Senate
The Nigerian Senate on July 14 passed the National Agency for Elderly Persons bill, which gives legal support to elderly people in the country. If approved by the President, the bill will provide welfare and recreational facilities for the elderly, promote research into matters related to elderly persons, and "provide community-based care and support services in the areas of recreation, sports, health, housing and finance," according to Emmanuel Ogala, writing for nEXt. For more information, visit:
nEXt
United Kingdom: Department of Health Releases Green Paper on Future of Care
On July 14, the United Kingdom's Department of Health (DH) released a 132-page Green Paper, "Shaping the Future of Care Together," putting forth a vision for a new care and support system. According to the DH, "the Green Paper highlights the challenges faced by the current system and the need for radical reform to develop a National Care Service that is fair, simple and affordable for everyone." In the Green Paper the DH articulates a number of questions and seeks the public's views, from now until November 13, "about how they think Government can make this vision a reality and develop a care and support system fit for the 21st century." For more information and to download the report, visit:
UK Department of Health
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CDC Report Reveals Health Disparities among Americans Age 55 and Older
Number 16 of the National Health Statistics Reports, published July 8 by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics, looks at four age groups (55-64, 65-74, 75-84, and 85 years and over), using data from the 2004-2007 National Health Interview Survey. "Health Characteristics of Adults Aged 55 Years and Over: United States, 2004-2007," by Charlotte A. Schoenborn and Kathleen M. Heyman, provides data for each age subgroup by sex, race, Hispanic origin, poverty level, health insurance type and marital status. The health measures examined include assessed health status, selected chronic conditions and impairments, difficulty with physical and social activities, use of health services (e.g., home care, emergency room), immunizations and key health-related behaviors. "The most consistent and striking findings are the health differences by poverty and health insurance status," the authors observe. In general, more of those with the lowest incomes and with Medicaid had the health conditions and impairments examined. For more information and to download the 12-page report, visit:
CDC
National Poll Shows Broad Public Support for Long-Term Care in Health Reform
The National Omnibus Survey on Long-Term Care, conducted by Lake Research Partners on behalf of The SCAN Foundation, surveyed over 1,000 randomly selected adults (aged 18 and older) in June to gauge opinion on long-term care coverage and health care reform. Results released on July 8 show that nearly eight in ten Americans believe health care reform would benefit them personally if it included improved coverage for home and community-based long-term care services, and they support including improved coverage for such services as part of health reform. A large majority of Americans (79 percent) are concerned about their ability to pay for long-term care for themselves or a family member in the future. An overwhelming 92 percent said it is important to improve coverage for services that help people remain in their home instead of going into a nursing home. For more information and to download a summary of the survey report, visit:
SCAN Foundation
Dementia Issue Looks at End-of-Life Care from Many Perspectives
The August issue of Dementia (Vol. 8, No. 3) includes two editorial articles, ten research and practice articles and one book review that collectively examine end-of-life care for dementia patients from an international viewpoint. Among the topics addressed are the "Hope from Home" study of palliative care at home, the "Dementia End of Life Care Project," the role of hospice in the United States, an advanced care planning service for nursing home residents with advanced dementia, the Israeli perspective on dementia units, and the "Palliative Care in Dementia Project." For more information, visit:
Dementia
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11th Annual Conference of the Retirement Research Consortium, August 10-11
The 11th Annual Conference of the Retirement Research Consortium (RRC) will be held on August 10-11 at the National Press Club in Washington, DC. The conference is free, but registration is required. Funded by the Social Security Administration, the RRC is made up of the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, the Michigan Retirement Research Center, and the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) Retirement Research Center. For more information, including an agenda and registration form, visit:
NBER
ASA 2009 Regional Conferences on Aging, September 8-11 and September 21-24
The American Society on Aging is convening two regional conferences in September, a West Coast Conference on Aging in Oakland from September 8 to 11 and an East Coast Conference on Aging in Philadelphia from September 21 to 24. For more information, visit:
ASA
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The New York Times Magazine Considers the Case for Health Care Rationing
In the July 19 The New York Times Magazine, Peter Singer, Professor of Bioethics at Princeton University, takes on a hot topic in health care reform. "'Rationing' has become a dirty word" in the current U.S. debate over health care reform, he says. To him, "rationing health care means getting value for the billions we are spending by setting limits on which treatments should be paid for from the public purse." While critics say that Britain's National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (generally known as "NICE") regularly hands down "death sentences to gravely ill patients," he cautions us to "remind ourselves that the U.S. system also results in people going without life-saving treatment -- it just does so less visibly." The cost of drugs and insurance are two factors that impact who gets care. True to its subtitle, "A utilitarian philosopher's argument for placing a dollar value on human life," the article discusses various ways to compare cost-effectiveness of health care, including the quality-adjusted life-year. He concludes by comparing the results of Gallup polls of Americans, Britons and Canadians. Although the latter two are said by some to "have long-suffered from rationing," when asked whether they have confidence in their country's "health care or medical systems," 73 percent of both Canadians and Britons (coincidentally the identical percentage) replied "yes" compared to just 56 percent of those in the U.S. Of the three countries, the U.S. spends much more, per person, on health care. For more information, visit:
NYT
The Guardian Depicts Daily Life in an English Nursing Home
On four days Amelia Gentleman visited the Monmouth Court nursing home in Ipswich, England, and compressed her experience into a personal account of life there from 6 am to midnight. "A Day In The Life of An Old People's Home" appeared in The Guardian July 14. "The 26 residents at Raglan House can ... be grouped into the living and the dying. The dying remain in private rooms, in bed, barely aware of night and day," she begins. "The living start their day shortly after six when staff begin hoisting them from their beds with crane-like machines, remove their night clothes, wash them with a sponge, dress them, transfer them to their wheelchairs and push them into the day room." For more information, visit:
The Guardian
Harrah's Foundation Gives AARP Foundation $1.1 Million for Caregiving
At AARP's 2009 Diversity and Aging Conference in June, the AARP Foundation announced a $1.1 million gift from the Harrah's Foundation to help current and former caregivers meet caregiving responsibilities while building their own long-term financial security. The year-long collaboration will emphasize caregiving within existing AARP Foundation programs like WorkSearch, Prepare to Care, Benefits Outreach and Money Management. It also will provide employers with tools to help employees balance caregiving and workplace responsibilities. For more information, visit:
Red Orbit News
FCA News: August 14 Deadline for Awards Application, Two New Fact Sheets
Family Caregiver Alliance invites nonprofit organizations, government agencies and universities to apply by August 14, 2009, 5:00 pm PDT for the 2009 Rosalinde Gilbert Innovations in Alzheimer's Disease Caregiving Legacy Awards. FCA oversees this national awards program of The Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Foundation. FCA also has posted two new fact sheets on its website, both prepared through funding from San Mateo Aging and Adult Services. "Caregiving" is a compendium of factual data about caregivers in the United States, practical advice to new caregivers and resources for additional help. "Hospital Discharge Planning: A Guide for Families and Caregivers" is an eight-page primer designed to help families make successful care transitions. For more information about the awards program and to view the fact sheets, visit:
FCA
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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.
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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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