Interactive tool provides easy access to curated resources
The Family Caregiver Council, comprised of leaders of national caregiving organizations, innovative companies in the active aging space and aging experts, has today launched a website, familycaregivercouncil.com, to support family caregivers – particularly those of older adults – at every stage of their journey.
“The rapidly growing number of family caregivers in the U.S. – 44 million – impacts every aspect of family life, from physical and emotional health to finances and workplace productivity,” says David Inns, CEO of GreatCall, the Council’s organizer. “When we came together as a Council, the first issue we identified was the lack of self- identification. Family caregivers are daughters, sons and spouses first. They have not planned for this time-consuming, stressful role nor do they think of themselves as ‘caregivers’. This website was developed to provide access to the best resources available across the spectrum of family caregiving needs – and is the ideal starting point for any caregiver journey.”
The site, familycaregivercouncil.com, discusses issues and provides the best vetted resources in six key areas of caregiving: technology, transportation, hiring help, housing, financial issues and you, the caregiver. The website is organized into the areas most critical to caregiving. Each of these sectors offers the caregiver key, curated resources in their areas of greatest concern, wherever he or she is on the journey. For example, the technology section identifies sub-sections that save search time: safety and security, health and wellness, care coordination and social engagement. Resources can also be accessed directly through a comprehensive directory.
“As David noted, we know from research that family caregivers also struggle with the massive amounts of information available on the Internet. How to find the correct resources for their situation? How to know that these resources are credible? This website helps in two ways: It provides a narrative framework for caregivers to recognize themselves, as well as vetted resources that will be useful to them at different stages of their caregiver journey,” adds Gail Gibson Hunt, President & CEO of the National Alliance for Caregiving.
“Caregiving is challenging enough as it is, so family caregivers don’t want to waste valuable time. They want help from sources they can trust and they want it fast,” says John Schall, CEO of Caregiver Action Network. “There are so many areas, challenges and sometimes unexpected obstacles where family caregivers could benefit from support. This website can guide caregivers to the help they need without a lot of searching.”
Caregiver Council members include:
- Scott Collins, CEO, Link-age
- Danielle Glorioso, Executive Director, UCSD Center for Healthy Aging
- Gail Hunt, President & CEO, National Alliance for Caregiving
- David Inns, CEO, GreatCall
- Margaret Kabat, National Director, Caregiver Support Program, Department of Veterans Affairs
- Brooks Kenny, Strategic Advisor, Lotsahelpinghands
- Sona Mehring, CEO, CaringBridge
- Susan Reinhard, SVP Public Policy, AARP
- John Schall, CEO, Caregiver Action Network
- Kai Stinchcombe, Co-Founder & CEO, True Link
- Sherwin Sheik, President & CEO, Care Linx
- Louis Tenenbaum, Founder, Aging in Place Institute
The Council’s advisors include:
- Laurie Orlov, Founder, Aging in Place Technology Watch
- Sally Abrahms, writer on aging and caregiving
- Mary Furlong, CEO, MFA
For information on the National Alliance for Caregiving, go to www.caregiving.org and for the Caregiver Action Network, to www.caregiveraction.org.