Families Caring for an Aging America: New Report from National Academies
The National Academies Press (NAP) has released a prepublication report (uncorrected copy) of a new report, Families Caring for an Aging America. The prepublication version of the report can be downloaded now as a pdf or read online. Downloading requires a NAP account or selection of the guest option. (Regardless of the method, the download if free). You can also preorder the report in hard copy now.
The description of the report offers this information:
Family caregiving affects millions of Americans every day, in all walks of life. At least 17.7 million individuals in the United States are caregivers of an older adult with a health or functional limitation. The nation’s family caregivers provide the lion’s share of long-term care for our older adult population. They are also central to older adults’ access to and receipt of health care and community-based social services. Yet the need to recognize and support caregivers is among the least appreciated challenges facing the aging U.S. population.
Families Caring for an Aging America examines the prevalence and nature of family caregiving of older adults and the available evidence on the effectiveness of programs, supports, and other interventions designed to support family caregivers. This report also assesses and recommends policies to address the needs of family caregivers and to minimize the barriers that they encounter in trying to meet the needs of older adults.
The entire 297 page report is likely too long to be assigned in its entirety to students, but portions would be a good addition to reading assignments. The report is also a good resource for students working on scholarly papers on the topic. The report is divided into 7 chapters, the last of which is devoted to discussing the 4 recommendations made by the committee. Those 4 recommendations:
RECOMMENDATION 1: The committee calls upon the Administration that takes office in January 2017 to take steps to address the health, economic, and social issues facing family caregivers of older Americans.
RECOMMENDATION 2: State governments that have yet to address the health, economic, and social challenges of caregiving for older adults should learn from the experience of states with caregiver supports, and implement similar programs.
RECOMMENDATION 3: The Secretaries of Health and Human Services, Labor, and Veterans Affairs should work with leaders in health care and long-term services and supports delivery, technology, and philanthropy to establish a public private, multi-stakeholder innovation fund for research and innovation to accelerate the pace of change in addressing the needs of caregiving families.
RECOMMENDATION 4: In all the above actions, explicitly and consistently address families’ diversity in assessing caregiver needs and in developing, testing, and implementing caregiver supports.