Integrative Wellness

Care for the Family Caregiver

Few jobs are as challenging as being an unpaid Family caregiver - no matter how much you love the person in your care. But if your responsibilities will never be easy, there are certainly ways to make them easier.

Care for the Family Caregiver is an initiative of the Integrative Wellness department that provides information, resources and tools to help manage the challenges and stress of caregiving. Recognizing that family caregivers are the forgotten patients, the program seeks to address some of the needs of unpaid family caregivers, of whom there are some 44.5 million nationwide.

Often called "silent patients", family caregivers are largely ignored by the health care system and thus are at risk for depression and illness. With an aging population, medical advances that keep people alive longer, shorter hospital stays, and sophisticated technology that allows sicker people to stay at home, the importance of family caregivers -- and the demands on them -- will only increase.

With the Care for the Family Caregiver program, the Integrative Wellness department is responding to the challenges faced by caregivers by:

• Sponsoring a theatrical exploration of the challenges of caregiving. CARING for ME; CARING for YOU premiered at the 2003 Council of Senior Centers and Services(CSCS) Conference on Aging.
• Giving caregivers a voice. By surveying thousands of HIP members, we now have solid data on which to build new programs that recognize the extent to which the health care system depends on the unpaid efforts of caregivers, and how critical it is to offer caregivers practical and emotional support.
• Expanding online resources. A redesigned Web page on HIP's Web site puts caregiving into its larger context, increasing public awareness of the issues and linking caregivers to resources nationwide.
• Distributing a caregiver resource booklet. Care for the Family Caregiver: A place to start is a resource for family caregivers, community organizations, providers and anyone interested in caregiving. Co-produced with the National Alliance for Caregiving for the White House Conference on Aging.