After the webinar, I'll do a summary, plus add some important resources as well. Stay tuned.
UPDATE: I was able to watch the first half of this webinar, which I thought was a very good presentation on the current state of caregiving for elders.
The moderator (I'm sorry I didn't catch her name) began by sharing some statistics. It is estimated that there are 53 million caregivers in the US, about 21.3% of the population. This is compared to 43.5 million in 2105. In Nebraska, there are 240,000 unpaid caregivers whose labor is estimated at a worth of $2.9 billion.
You can get download the 2020 report "Caregiving in the U.S." prepared by AARP and the National Alliance for Caregiving.
Richard Lui was introduced and started by saying "little things are big things." The decisions, the hugs, the touches, finding out what's good for the person you're taking care of. He said his 84-year-old father is now 8 years into his Alzheimer journey. He found that just be touching him on his forehead, it allowed his father to recognize him. This little thing had become a grand gesture.
Lui went on to say there's "a lot of joy in the difficulty" of caregiving. In most cases you don't sign up for it, and while helping others it helps you become more human. "Everybody is their own expert," he said, emphasizing that each person brings a unique perspective to this type of work. It can be stressful work, but he said, "I still try to enjoy the laughter of life."
He said that caregiving is not fully appreciated in our culture. One would think it is mostly female, but males also contribute making up 4 out of 10 caregivers. He says that he is part of the sandwich generation, Gen Y & Z, who play a significant role. He cited that students make up over 5 million caregivers, as well as children, those under the age of 18.
Coming to terms to his commitment to his father and to his employer, MSNBC, seemed daunting at first. He works at a job where's he's on call, and not in a position to refuse appearing in a broadcast. He was faced with coming up with a plan that would allow him to become a long-distance caregiver. AARP helped him with the idea of an Employee Resource Group (ERG) in approaching his employer, which had a successful outcome.
ERGs and BRGs (Business Resource Group) serve the function of "voluntary, employee-led groups that foster a diverse, inclusive workplace aligned with organizational mission, values, goals, business practices, and objectives. Other benefits include the development of future leaders, increased employee engagement, and expanded marketplace reach," as stated on the Catalyst.org website.
In regard to Covid-19, Richard said that we already have been facing a "Care Pandemic." The moderator stated that Federal and State programs realize a savings when the elderly can age in place, and this should be factored in when funding is considered.
At present, Lui says, "he's an 84-year-old child," requiring constant care, but now that he's in an assisted living facility, he sees his father once every 3 weeks, or twice every 4 to 5 weeks. Initially he was flying back to San Francisco from his job in NYC on a weekly basis.
I'll keeping adding resource links to this blog post, as I hope this becomes a hub for significant information about the challenges of caregiving and the elderly.
