family caregivers « blog.caregiver.org

Best of Awards for 2010

By Kathleen Kelly - FCA Executive Director, on March 16th, 2011

How good was 2010 to family caregivers? Well if you factored out the protracted budget crisis in the states, it was a pretty good year. Two landmark pieces of legislation set the pace: the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) and the Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act. We have also gathered other [...]

State Policy Recommendations for Caregivers

By Kathleen Kelly - FCA Executive Director, on February 8th, 2011

I had the pleasure of addressing the California Commission on Aging last week during their public hearing on “Celebrating Caregiving in California”. I was asked to provide the historical background on caregiving in my home state and look at the future in terms of policy directions. I would like to share some of [...]

States, Counties and Cities: The Long Road to Recovery

By Kathleen Kelly - FCA Executive Director, on January 19th, 2011

As the negative economic news continues, what are we to make of the prolonged recession that has already changed the service landscape for caregiving families? Difficult debate and hard decisions are underway at every level of government from federal, state, county to city levels. The services that families depend on for support such [...]

Funding for Additional Caregiver Support is Scuttled by Congress

By Kathleen Kelly - FCA Executive Director, on January 6th, 2011

In the August 11, 2010 edition of PolicyDigest, Family Caregiver Alliance alerted our readers that the Senate Appropriations Committee had approved its spending bill for the departments of Labor, Health, and Human Services with a number of provisions benefitting family caregivers. As part of Vice-President Biden’s Caregiver Initiative, an additional $104.5 million was [...]

One Simple Question – Update

By Kathleen Kelly - FCA Executive Director, on August 24th, 2010

In late May, I wrote about including in Medicare health history questionnaires the question, “Are you currently providing assistance to a family member or friend who has a health condition?” For older caregivers, health risks can be significantly higher and asking the question first recognizes those who may not “identify” with being a [...]

FCA: Not Your Sound-Bite Organization

By Kathleen Kelly - FCA Executive Director, on June 15th, 2010

I am often asked for a quick and easy answer to what Family Caregiver Alliance does – a brief explanation that can fit into an elevator ride. The simplest response is our mission: To improve the quality of life for family caregivers through services, advocacy, research and education. This has been our charge [...]

One Simple Question: Are You a Caregiver?

By Kathleen Kelly - FCA Executive Director, on May 26th, 2010

Over the years there have been a number of studies that have shown the ill effects of caregiving on the health and mental health of the caregiver – and mostly it is not good news. For those older spousal caregivers and in particular those who are caring for a spouse with dementia, a decline [...]