Transcript Federal Legislation and Family Caregivers

Foundation for
American Health Care Leadership
Promoting and Enabling Healthy Choices:
Linking the Desire for Health
with the Decisions & Tools that Support Health
Suzanne Mintz, President/Co-founder
NATIONAL FAMILY
CAREGIVERS ASSOCIATION
www.thefamilycaregiver.org
1/800 896 3650
NFCA
• NFCA is the nation’s leading grassroots
organization in support of all family caregivers.
NFCA educates, supports, empowers, and speaks
up for the millions of Americans who care for
chronically ill, aged, or disabled loved ones.
• NFCA reaches across the boundaries of different
diagnoses, different relationships and different life
stages to address the common needs and concerns of all
family caregivers.
Family Caregiving Today
Basic Facts
• More than 50 million Americans
• Over ½ provide on average 20 hours of care per
week or more
• 80% of all homecare services
• Conservative market value $257 billion annually;
more than twice what is spend on nursing homes
and paid homecare combines; comparable to all
Medicare spending 2002.
• Typical FCG woman 46 yrs old, employed, caring
for mom who lives elsewhere
Financial Impact
• Lower incomes than typical American
family – 43% less than $30K compared to
35%
• Out of pocket medical expenses 2.5 times
higher – 11.2 percent of income.
Health Impact
• As many as 59% prone to clinical depression
• Multiple studies have shown immune system
impact, and in some cases increased mortality.
• Most recent findings: Stress of family caregiving
can cause premature aging, as much as 10 years.
A Vision for the Future
At NFCA we envision an America in which:
• patients and their families are at the center of all
healthcare planning;
• care for those with chronic conditions is holistic
and integrated --- across medical and social
settings, regardless of age or economic status;
• the contributions of family caregivers to the
welfare of their loved ones and to society is
recognized and supported so that family caregivers
no longer need to sacrifice their own health and
wellness to provide care.
Self Identified FCG
Motivated But Not Enabled
• Believe self care very important yet self
care declines with family caregiving.
Regular exercise decreases by 50%
Doctor visits to check out a perceived health
problem decrease by 33%.
• The experience doesn’t move people to
plan for their own future - 45% not at all,
and only 29% a little bit.
Non Self- Identified FCG
Not Even Motivated
Family Caregiving It’s Not All Up to You
www.familycaregiving101.org
A Public Education Campaign Designed to
Help Family Caregivers Recognize Their Own Risk
and Seek Help to Be Better Caregivers
Things We Are Seeing
• Parents who have relocated for retirement are
moving closer to their kids
• Aging women are talking about congregate
housing as a way to continue to be independent
while also living in community.
• Olmstead decision creating a base of more
home/community-based services enabling the
concept of aging in place. (Bring services to me,
not me to services)
Things to Think About
• No matter how healthy our life style, sooner or
later we will get at least one chronic condition.
After the golden years come the rust years.
• There are far fewer Gen Xers than there are
boomers, and the healthcare worker shortage will
not be eradicated any time soon. Who will provide
care?
• Living longer means needing more money for a
longer period of time. EBRI says most of us won’t
have it.
• Medical science moves at the speed of sound.
Social and systems changes move glacially. How
can our institutions respond in meaningful ways?
More Things to Think About
• Americans values youth, beauty, and comfort. Can
we scare people into action using chronological vs
real age comparisons and life with savings vs not
enough savings comparisons?
• Membership in the Hemlock Society is on the rise.
Is choosing the time of our death the ultimate act
of control and a very pragmatic present to give our
kids? (half joking – not sure how serious)
National Family Caregivers Association
For more information on
Helping Family Caregivers Become
Advocates and Building a Family
Caregiver Activist Movement
Contact NFCA
1/800 896 3650
www.thefamilycaregiver.org