Cost of Taking Care of Mom and Dad

Overwhelmed caregivers save the U.S. health care system billions in uncompensated care

by: Cynthia Ramnarace, from: AARP Bulletin, July 18, 2011

Caregivers' and aging adults' need for resources comes at a time when the political climate seeks cuts to spending on social programs. So while some solutions exist — long-term care insurance planning as part of the Affordable Care Act, grants to states from the fiscally modest National Family Caregiver Support Program and the formation of the White House Task Force on the Middle Class — experts say real solutions will have to come from the grassroots level.

An idea

In Mississippi, which has the highest per capita rate (19.7 percent) of caregivers in the country, the homegrown caregiving movement has begun. Jo Ann O'Quin, professor of social work at the University of Mississippi and a longtime caregiving advocate, took it upon herself to meet the demand she heard most regularly from her support group members: respite. She started Memory Makers, an adult day care respite program in Oxford, Miss.

"We asked the city for a small amount of start-up money," says O'Quin. "A church got us a room where we could meet. My students and some RSVP (Retired Senior Volunteer Program) members staff it as volunteers. It's a four-hour nonstop party for older adults." O'Quin is planning a wine and cheese fundraiser to help increase their services, now offered three days a week. She's also working on ways to deliver another desperately needed resource: in-home respite by a paid caregiver.

"I've heard the term caregiver fatigue," says O'Quin. "People do get burned out. The demands can be incredible. People need to know where to turn for resources and for answers."

Cynthia Ramnarace writes about families and health. She lives in New York.

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