Wanted: A National Respite System – For Caregivers

Stuart SchlossmanCaregiver related, Multiple Sclerosis

Source: NY Times — Caring and Coping


The concept of a “holiday” is an elusive one for the over 28 million people in the United States who provide care for someone age 75 or older. A 2009 National Alliance for Caregiving/AARP study found that 88 percent of family caregivers never get a break from this full-time job. As readers here know all too well, the non-stop effort can take both a physical and emotional toll over time.
Jill Kagan, who has chaired the National Respite Coalition since 1994, hopes to change all that — not household by household, but at the policy level. She is determined to help caregivers who can’t afford private options find a way to catch their breath.
Respite advocates face a Goliath-sized challenge on a decidedly David-sized budget. Authorized by Congress in 2006, the Lifespan Respite Care Program was intended to support and expand the delivery of respite services nationwide. In each of the last two years, the federal Administration on Aging has provided $2.5 million to the program, the bulk of it granted to individual states to develop their own initiatives.

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