Caregivers

Many baby boomers and middle aged adults realize that decisions regarding quality of care for their elderly parents can be very emotional for all involved. That's why improvements to the state's Family Caregiver Support Program are so crucial.

A scorecard released by AARP, the Commonwealth Fund and the Scan Foundation ranks our state 39th in its long-term and family caregiver programs.

Ray Landis, advocacy manager for AARP Pennsylvania agrees that the state has a long way to go in helping older adults have a choice and control over their lives. The older adults have made it clear, he said, that there's no place like home for "receiving basic services which can mean the difference between aging in place and being forced into a nursing home."

Bob Marino, Chairman of the Alzheimer's Association Pennsylvania Public Policy Coalition, said the research has shown that "these families are under a great deal of stress and need support."

When Pennsylvania's lottery-funded Family Caregiver Support Program began in 1990, it was considered a national model. Eligible families were reimbursed for out of pocket expenses in order to care for an older adult at home. Since that time, however, the program, which is administered by local Area Agencies on Aging, has not been updated.

Vicki Hoak, Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Homecare Association, notes that more than $1 million of Lottery funds allocated to the state Family Caregiver Support Program went unspent in the last budgeted year due to current restrictive eligibility requirements within the program.

This is why Hoak and a statewide coalition of other advocates representing older Pennsylvanians have called on members of the state General Assembly to approve much-needed changes to the Family Caregiver Support Program that would help more families care for older adults at home.

Hoak notes that lawmakers have been advised that support for the Family Caregiver Support Act does not require additional state spending. The legislation (House Bill 210 and Senate Bill 639) simply allows local Area Agencies on Aging the flexibility they need to "effectively target existing funding so more seniors can remain in their homes."

The fact that Pennsylvania needs to improve its long-term services and supports for older adults is no secret. Along with its state ranking of 39 overall, it also ranks 47th in affordability and access, 22nd in quality of life and quality of care and just 46th in support for family caregivers.

If Pennsylvania was to improve up to the level of the best performing state, an estimated 15,350 more new users of Medicaid long term services and supports would first receive services in home and community based setting instead of nursing homes; 4,338 nursing home residents with low care needs would instead be able to receive services in the community; and 5,674 unnecessary hospitalization of people in nursing homes would be avoided.

To mark the beginning of the fall legislative session in Harrisburg, Senior Support Coalition members amplified their message by delivering welcome mats to the office of each member of the General Assembly.

For those many Pennsylvanians now caring for elderly parents or other family members, the message on each welcome mat said it all: "There's No Place Like Home."

By Jim Zbick

jzbick@tnonline.com