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Elders and Caregivers

Caregiver Voices - Vignettes of NFCSP "Success Stories"

Selected examples from family experiences illustrate how the National Family Caregiver Support Program is making a difference in the American caregiving experience. The National Family Caregiver Support Program…

  • Helps families connect to services

Ms. T who lives in Arizona connected with the Area Agency caregiver program through the AoA-sponsored Eldercare Locator program. She was concerned about her mother’s continuing decline in mobility. She wanted to have a physical therapist evaluate her mother and work to increase her strength. The caregiver support staff collected information about local services and costs and provided this information to the caregiver. They suggested an Emergency Response System unit for the home since the mother lived alone. Her daughter, who lives in Ohio, was able to set up and pay for services for her mother because of the caregiver program. The daughter was relieved to know that a caregiving specialist will check on her mother until she was able to return home for a visit.

  • Promotes better care-related decisions

Mr. D. is a 51-year-old male who resides in the District of Columbia and is the sole caregiver for his blind mother. Mr. D is employed outside the home, and consequently, worries about his mother during the day. For Mr. D., the educational seminars provided through the NFCSP are invaluable. He has attended each of the sessions offered, once every other month. At the seminars, Mr. D has learned about community resources, insurance issues and helpful tips from fellow caregivers. The opportunity to learn from other caregivers has helped him plan his mothers’ care and encourage him to accept help for others.

  • Helps caregivers take a break

An 80-year-old caregiver is caring for her 102-year-old mother. She receives assistance with respite in the evenings so that she can rest prior to rendering care throughout the night. The respite services give her a break when she knows she has reached her limits so that she can continue to meet the day-to-day challenges of caregiving. When talking with this caregiver she will not tell you that this role is a chore or job, but will tell you that it is an honor to be entrusted with the care of her dear mother and a commitment that she is thankful for. She was selected Arkansas’ Caregiver of the Year for 2001.

  • Allows caregivers to remain in the workforce

A man transferred his 90-year-old mother from the south to northern Minnesota this year. He was able to set her up in a senior high rise but did not realize until she was there that she needed so many support services. He had a new job that required him to be on the road several days a week and wasn’t sure how this would impact her adjustment. The Caregiver program allowed for connections to be made to the state services for the blind, meals on wheels, friendly visitor program, and volunteer driver services. Four months later the care recipient is making new friends in her building, is called and visited weekly, receives daily meals, had her appliances high-marked for ease of use and receives books on tape through the mail. When her son is on the road he is comforted in knowing his mother is receiving food, can manage her daily living and has transportation if needed for outings.

  • Supports long-distance caregiving

Long-distance caregiving is a difficult challenge for many adult children. In Minnesota several families use the NFCSP as a connecting point (phone/email/mail) for their loved ones since they (the adult children) live a town away, a state away or even across the country. Through the NFCSP, home visits are arranged for caregivers and distant caregivers are kept informed of the status of the care recipient. When family caregivers do visit, they readily receive information through the program.

  • Prevents unwanted out-of-home placement

Mr. and Mrs. B. live in a rural Ohio community, and are trying to remain independent in their own home. Mrs. B is 81 years old and has difficulty walking, as well as limited use of her right arm. Her husband provides daily care for his wife despite his own physical problems. The Caregiver Support Program set up services for this couple two times a week. Having a nurse’s aide come into the home allows Mr. B time to run errands without worrying about Mrs. B being left home alone. Mr. B states now he cannot imagine how they would cope without the assistance of the Caregiver Support Program.

  • Prevents foster care placement for children raised by grandparent caregivers

An elderly Kentucky grandmother has taken over caregiving responsibilities for her eleven-year-old grandson. After providing this care for a number of years, the grandmother found herself in need of outpatient surgery that would involve about a week of recovery at home. Knowing that undergoing the procedure would severely limit her ability to provide care to her grandson the week following the operation, this grandmother had already postponed the surgery twice before. Hearing of the NFCSP, the grandmother contacted her local Area Agency asking if she and her grandson would qualify for some temporary assistance under our program. The agency was able to arrange for the help that the two of them needed. A home care worker was able to meet the housekeeping and chore demands of household with a child present (preparing snacks and meals, laundry, clean-up, and the like) and at the same time provide personal care assistance to the grandmother until she was better able to manage for herself. She was worried, that without such help, she might have had to seek out temporary foster care for her grandson, a less than ideal situation, since he had already suffered through a difficult separation from his natural parent, as well as protracted foster care, prior to his grandmother obtaining legal custody.

  • Helps sustain caregivers in their caregiving roles

A North Carolina caregiver takes care of her mother and sister, as well as her 12-year-old grandson for the past 7 years. Her stress level is unbelievably high and though both her sister and mother attend adult day centers and have a volunteer provide respite one time a week, her responsibilities are staggering. This caregiver had not been home to see her family in Oklahoma in years because she did not feel comfortable leaving all her responsibilities in someone else's hands. After attending the workshop, Taking Care of You...Powerful Tools for Caregiving, she was challenged by the other caregivers in the group to go to a family reunion in Oklahoma. She accepted the challenge and was energized and delighted to find that her family with the help of friends and neighbors did just fine in her absence. She stated that without the support of the "Tools" group, she would have been unable to make this huge step.

  • Reaches out to special populations and communities

Mrs. I is 78 year old Japanese care recipient. Mrs. I is legally blind, has diabetes, and arthritis. She is prone to falls and is not able to strictly control her diet on her own, nor prepare her meals. She lives with her 47-year-old son, Jed, who is responsible for running a food shipping business in Alaska. He is the sole family caregiver. The family could only afford a few hours of respite help a week and due to demands of his business, Jed was unable to provide help to his mother during the day. The Alaska Caregiver Program provided the necessary funds and a Senior Companion to provide respite services during the week; the family private-pays for respite help on the weekends. What was a caregiving crisis for Jeb is now a stabilized situation.

  • Meets unmet caregiver needs

“I am a caregiver to my elderly mother who is a double amputee. I am a single amputee. We have lived in Rosebud Housing for seven years without a ramp. When the Caregiver Program was implemented on the reservation the staff assisted me by getting the proper forms for the local housing office. Within one week my mother and I had a ramp installed at our home after seven years without one." White River, SD, Rosebud Sioux Tribe.


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