By STEVE SMITHERMAN
Guest Columnist
According to the Caregiving in the U.S. 2020 report published by the National Alliance for Caregiving and the AARP Public Policy Institute, 53 million people in the U.S. are providing unpaid care for relatives and friends, and that number continues to grow rapidly.
However, few of these people actually identify themselves as a true caregiver. According to Johns Hopkins Medicine, a caregiver is a person who tends to the needs or concerns of a person with short- or long-term limitations due to illness, injury or disability.
Rosalynn Carter, former first lady of the U.S., put the importance of caregivers into perspective when she said, “There are only four kinds of people in this world: those who have been caregivers, those who are currently caregivers, those who will be caregivers and those who will need caregivers. Caregiving is universal.”
Despite the universal need for caregivers, an issue that we often see is that they don’t take the time to care for themselves. This could be due to multiple reasons, but usually, they start to ignore their own health because they don’t have the capacity to prioritize themselves while they’re busy caring for another person. November marks National Family Caregivers Month, making now the perfect time to remind the public to honor and support family caregivers.
Our mission at CareSource is to make a lasting difference in our members’ lives, and part of that work includes making sure we are supportive of the individuals who take care of our members.
Barriers caregivers face
As a caregiver, you can be susceptible to a lot of stress. While balancing your own life, you are also tasked with the responsibility of managing someone else’s.
A recent survey we conducted revealed that many caregivers do not receive proper health care, don’t attend doctor visits as often as they should, and will often ignore their needs when it comes to their own health and well-being. The healthier the caregiver, the healthier the person they care for will be. This also includes taking care of caregivers’ mental health. As a caregiver’s mental and emotional health declines, this will inadvertently impact the health of the loved one they’re supporting.
Many people have assumptions about caregivers, like they chose the role because they have extra time or that their own needs have been met because they are caring for someone else. However, this is rarely the case when it comes to caregiving. They may not always ask for the help they need, but there is no denying that supporting those that support others is crucial.
Economic impact of caregiver support
According to a report by the National Library of Medicine, family caregiving can lead to an overall improvement in health and a reduction in health care costs. Caregiving can serve as a replacement for formal health care services and their associated costs. It has been shown to also reduce nursing home use and hospitalizations and create lower rates of home health utilization.
A report from the AARP Public Policy Institute estimates that in 2017, family caregivers provided a collective 34 billion hours of care to adults and an equivalent of approximately $470 billion in unpaid assistance. However, it’s important to note that estimating direct replacement costs is complex because not all caregiver roles are alike. Regardless of their role, this data demonstrates the need to prioritize caregiver support.
How to support a caregiver
The role of a caregiver can vary as it depends on the needs of the person who requires care. Therefore, the manner in which support is provided to the caregiver will vary as well and must be tailored to their specific needs.
For example, new mothers are considered caregivers because they are taking care of their baby full-time until the child can care for themselves. Another form of caregiving is providing assistance to the elderly.
Over the past few years, I have taken a more active role in being a caregiver for my aging mother. This personal experience has not only highlighted the needs of caregivers, but it has ignited a passion in me to support other families stepping into similar roles.
For a new mom, you can show support by connecting them with resources offering postpartum care as this can help minimize the risk of postpartum depression. For example, the Indiana Department of Health offers the MOMS Helpline, committed to improving pregnant women’s access to early and regular prenatal care and connecting them with a network of child health care services within their local communities after their pregnancy.
For someone who is caring for an elderly parent, it may mean the world to them if you offer to sit with their loved one while the caregiver takes a break to experience something that brings them joy, improving their mental health.
Our job at CareSource is to find out how to connect caregivers with the proper resources to best meet the needs of the people they care for while also meeting their own needs.
Resources for the caregiver
There are various support services and resources caregivers can utilize, including the Caregiver Action Network, the nation’s leading family caregiver organization, and the Central Indiana Area Agency on Aging (CICOA), providing aging and in-home solutions for Central Indiana. Caregivers can also use services like Joy’s House, an organization that serves adults living with life-altering diagnoses and their families by providing adult day and caregiver services.
At CareSource, we plan to create caregiver advisory councils to uncover what these individuals need in order to care for others and for themselves and how we, as a health plan, can address those needs. Our Life Services program also has a specific branch that helps families work through any barriers they may be facing and connects them with the proper resources.
As the need for caregivers continues to grow, we plan to support that growth by prioritizing the people behind this care.
Steve Smitherman serves as the President of CareSource Indiana.