In September, October, and November 2016, we posted several articles about the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine’s report on family caregiving. The report looked at the state of family caregiving in the US, where 40 million people give assistance daily to a relative or neighbor. “Assistance” includes all aspects of caregiving such as meal preparation, bathing, toileting, dressing, medication management, and transportation.
You can find the report “Families Caring for an Aging America” here:
www.nationalacademies.org/hmd/Reports/2016/families-caring-for-an-aging-america.aspx
Today’s New York Times has an article about by a physician, Dr. Dhruv Khullar, summarizing the September 2016 report. I didn’t find a lot new here but it never hurts to re-state the needs of family caregivers.
Dr. Khullar says:
“[The report] suggests that society’s reliance on this ‘work force’ — largely taken for granted — is unsustainable. … In 2015, there were seven potential family caregivers for every person over 80. By 2030, this ratio is expected to be four-to-one, and by 2050, there will be fewer than three potential caregivers for every older American.”
The problems identified include:
* “This volunteer army is put at great financial risk. … One in five report significant financial strain.”
* “Even worse, perhaps, is the physical and emotional toll of extended caregiving. Family caregivers are more likely to experience negative health effects like anxiety, depression and chronic disease. One study found that those who experienced mental or emotional stress while caring for a disabled spouse were 63 percent more likely to die within four years than noncaregivers who were also tracked.”
* “As overworked and underappreciated as family caregivers are, health systems, under pressure to reduce costs, increasingly rely on them to manage illness at home.”
Some approaches that the medical community can take to support and educate family caregivers include:
* Medical professionals should list the family caregiver on the patient’s medical record.
* Medical professionals should engage family caregivers in “important decisions about a patient’s treatment plan.”
* Part of accomplishing the treatment plan is assessing the abilities of the family caregiver and anticipating challenges they may find. One assessment tool mentioned is the “Next Step in Care” by the United Hospital Fund. (See nextstepincare.org)
* “Having counseling and support services available to caregivers, as well as respite programs to temporarily relieve them of their responsibilities, could also help.”
* “[Clinicians] could be trained in how best to educate family caregivers, and to better meet their emotional and physical needs. A nurse might demonstrate how to turn a patient in bed without risking back strain. Or the right way to deliver an insulin injection — how to pinch the skin, what angle to insert the needle — and what signs to look out for if blood sugar levels get too low.”
Here’s a link to the NYT article:
www.nytimes.com/2017/01/19/upshot/who-will-care-for-the-caregivers.html
The Upshot
Short-Handed
Who Will Care for the Caregivers?
New York Times
Dhruv Khullar
Jan. 19, 2017
Robin