Hot Off the Press: Foundation for National Strategy to Support Family Caregivers Released!

• By: USAging
• On: 09/23/2021 16:47:49
• In: News

In 2018, the RAISE Family Caregivers Act was passed to address the complex issues facing family caregivers. RAISE also directed the Secretary of Health and Human Services to develop a Family Caregiving Advisory Council compromised of both family caregivers and experts. This week, the RAISE Council announced its recommendations—delivered to policymakers—on how to better support family caregivers, including a call for financial and workplace security and expanding home and community-based services, among other actions. These recommendations will serve as the foundation for a National Family Caregiving Strategy.
 
The RAISE Family Caregiving and Advisory Council developed the recommendations after a two-year, multifaceted effort with support from USAging as well as other national caregiving partners. The recommendations fall under five goals, which include:
 

• Increasing Awareness of Family Caregivers to increase public understanding of the contributions caregivers make, including helping individuals self-identify as caregivers so that they can get the support they need.
• Engaging Family Caregivers as Partners in Healthcare and Long-Term Services and Supports to better integrate family caregivers into healthcare processes and systems.
• Improving Access to Services and Supports for Family Caregivers including counseling, respite care, peer support, training on common in-home medical tasks, and practical assistance like transportation. Also included is a recommendation for strengthening the paid caregiver workforce.
• Supporting Financial and Workplace Security for Family Caregivers to decrease the impact family caregiving can have on the financial well-being and professional lives of caregivers.
• Generating Research, Data, and Evidence-Informed Practices to help create policies and interventions that meaningfully help family caregivers.

The National Family Caregiver Strategy will provide a roadmap for the nation to strengthen its support and recognition of the critical role family caregivers of all ages play in healthcare and long-term support systems. The next stop for the recommendations is the halls of Congress where they were hand-delivered yesterday. Attention now turns to educating members of Congress on the impact these recommendations could have on the lives of the nation's caregivers—and those for whom they provide care.