Aging Society Challenges Family Caregivers

The last thing any child wants to do is put a parent or loved one into a nursing facility. Yet, that’s the horrendous decision caregivers face when they’re unable to secure the support they need. I served on the Real Systems Change Advisory Board in Illinois, a federally funded pilot project that assessed the financial and clinical feasibility of nursing home patients who wanted to live in the community, not in nursing homes. We found that many patients, with minor arrangements, could live safely and far happier in community apartments. One woman simply needed a building with an elevator, a twice-weekly home health visit and a weekly visit from a nurse to take vitals and review medications.

Sure, the system has its flaws, but the project uncovered policy and funding barriers and advocated together for change. We aren’t talking a major overhaul – we just considered each patient individually and made adjustments that resulted in a happier patient and a family with peace of mind. Nursing home reviews keep uncovering major non-compliance with requirements, over-medicated patients and rising incidents of abuse and neglect. How have we benefitted the patient by tearing them from their stressed-out caregiver and placing them in a nursing home? While advocates work furiously to reform nursing homes, let’s not be so quick to separate caregivers and patients.

Let’s first use screening and assessments, like Project SAFE, so we can put family support and safety in place, to reduce caregiver stress and keep them together. I was manager and a co-creator of Illinois’ Project SAFE, an award-winning child welfare and substance abuse project that screened and assessed addicted, stressed-out parents. Teams of child welfare and substance abuse staff working together put in place viable options, more family supportive services, child care, transportation and treatment services so families could stay together. Having witnessed hundreds of families preserved because of Project SAFE, the elder abuse system would greatly benefit from borrowing from those approaches.

-Maya Hennessey

Consultant, Trainer, Author, and Caregiver Advocate

www.mayahennessey.com

Maya Hennessey of CA 1:44AM January 06, 2010