Increasing Caregiver Support Service Access And Use Among Chinese Americans

The Elder Justice Act was passed on March 23, 2010 as part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) as the first piece of federal legislation to allow funds to address elder abuse, neglect and exploitation nationwide (Federal Laws, 2015). Part I of the Elder Abuse Act is the Elder Justice Coordinating Council made up of federal government representatives charged with the responsibility of coming up with programs for the promotion of elder justice. They have to provide recommendations to the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services on the issues of abuse, neglect and exploitation of the elderly. Then there are 27 professionals from the general public who are to give recommendations to the Coordinating Council as well. Part II of the Elder Justice Act talks about funding and enhancing long-term care. Long-term care is important because you need programs committed to training long-term staff,

With the advancements in healthcare and people living longer lives America is facing a caregiver crisis, due to the growth of the aging population. Statistics show that the number of people 65 years and older is expected to rise 101% between 2000 and 2030, yet the number of family members who can provide care for these older adults is only expected to rise 25% (Gupta, 2015). This significant change in the population raises many questions, who will care for this group, how will their safety be ensured, how will the elderly travel, where will they live, will building structures need to change to allow easier access, will the government create a caregiver corps to check on the elderly who are isolated, and ultimately how does the government

They are ready to expand their services to meet the growing need for health care for frail, lower income elderly and disabled adults who present the most complex and costly challenges to the Medicaid system. They reduce the need for costly, long-term nursing care. Because this program is responsible with all costs, they will do their best to keep participants as healthy as possible, to practice preventative measures, to monitor conditions, to prevent falls and to keep participants out of expensive hospitals, emergency rooms and nursing homes. PACE of the Triad does not exclude people or treat them differently because of race, color, national origin, age, disability, or sex.What is more important for my adult is that they keep people in the community and out of nursing homes, reducing hospitalizations, and saving people money while providing quality outcomes for

aging out for our young adults. Since 1999 when the Foster Care Independence Act was enacted,

In the early 1800’s industrialization of the northeast and other national endeavors such as railroads and road building required much manual labor. This vast manual labor job market opened the flood gates into the United States for immigrants seeking prosperity and a better life for themselves and their families. By the mid 1800’s many Chinese immigrants had made the voyage to the U.S. and sought work mainly in the factories of the prosperous northeast as well as the California gold mines. Culturally the Chinese people’s actions are motivated by the concept of bringing honor and respect to the family as a whole, and less concerned about individual successes or prestige, which resulted in Chinese immigrant’s willingness to do high quality work for long hours for very little pay. This was beneficial to the employer and company, but displaced many other immigrant workers which caused racial tensions. Chinese immigrants were accustomed to living in tight quarters, working together as families or community units and making do with what was available. These qualities assisted in the development of China Towns, housing and cultural centers for the Chinese immigrant population, near or in the large cities where their populations were greatest such as New York and San Francisco as. Many Americans viewed these China Towns as unsanitary and unhealthy brothels where prostitution and smoking opium was commonplace.

Last year Congress passed the Recognize, Assist, Include, Support and Engage (RAISE) Family Caregivers Act. This act supports and advises families with caregivers. "This bill directs the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to develop, maintain, and periodically update a National Family Caregiving Strategy." (www.congress.gov) Former President Barak Obama also supported contributed to the AARP organization by creating the Obama Care Bill. This bill helped families of any age receive health care. The Federal government is also tackling the illegal discharge of patients in nurse

As you may know, Rep. Greg harper(R-MO) introduced H.R. 3099 in July of 2015. The bill directs the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to develop, maintain and regulatory update a National Caregiving strategy. In addition, the bill directs HHS to convene a Family Caregiving Advisory Council to advice on supporting caregivers.

In the fiscal year 2010, (O’Shaughnessy, 2012) only about 5.1%, or 3 million people, out of the 57.8 million people age sixty and over, received services funded by the Act. These services included home delivered meals, home care, personal care, or case management services on a regular or intensive basis. About 14%, 8 million people, received other services, such as transportation, congregate meals, or information and assistance on a not so regular basis. A report was made by the Government Accountability Office stating that their findings were that many older people are in need of meals and other supportive services to help remain independent in their own communities, but a large portion of them are not getting the help they are in need of. Some barriers causing this lack of help are lack of funding and lack of knowledge among the older Americans that they may be eligible for benefits and services can be available for them.

* Evaluate the effectiveness of a care home for the elderely organizational policy (safe guarding vulnerable individual policy) in supporting elderly people and

Elder abuse has a long standing history dating back before the 1960’s, “it is only in recent decades that elder abuse as a social policy issue has moved to the forefront of health care and social services in the United States” (Falk, Baigis, & Kopac, 2012). In March of 2010, as part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act; The Elder Justice Act, first introduced in 2003, was signed into law. The Elder Justice Act provides federal resources to “prevent, detect, treat, intervene in, and prosecute elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation and to protect elders with diminished capacity while maximizing their

WEEP is both unique and promising because the program focuses on education of the elder and their caregiver simultaneously. This combined learning experience will strengthen the elder-caregiver relationship, increase financial knowledge, while improving awareness of fraud and exploitation, thus leading to increased reporting and more prudent behavior. The U.S. Department of Justice and the Department of Health and Human Services outlined in the Elder Justice Roadmap (PBS, 2014) ways in which elder exploitation can be combated through awareness, education efforts to support caregiver(s), and supportive education resources in the community. The Roadmap suggests that there should be better support for the tens of millions of paid and unpaid

The objective of this study is to examine the evolution of programs and services for aging population over the last fifty years. Toward this end, this brief study will conduct a review of literature that addresses these shifts and changes in policy. The timeline of the history of the services and pogroms for the aging population in the United States is shown in the following timeline and an explanation for these develops will next follow the timeline.

Germany was reported to recognize and support nearly 72% of family caregivers and plan beneficiaries who have chosen to receive direct services of a cash stipend which amounts to half or less than half of the cost of home/community-based care (Campbell, Ikegami, & Gibson, 2009). In addition, if a family member had provided a minimum of fourteen hours of care per week, the long-term care insurance coverage would cover that individual’s social security premiums and respite care for vacation with the aim of making the caregiver’s job more competitive with regular employment opportunities (Campbell, Ikegami, & Gibson, 2009). In Japan, long-term care insurance coverage has attempted to support the caregiver role by offering services such as home assistance, adult day care services, respite care, home modifications, assistive devices, and visiting home health care (Campbell, Ikegami, & Gibson, 2009). The United States could learn from both of these approaches utilized by Japan and Germany according to Campbell, Ikegami, & Gibson (Campbell, Ikegami, & Gibson, 2009). The CLASS Act would have provided a similar cash incentive in the United States, and it would have allowed consumers to have the greatest amount of choice while the main drawback would have been the potential impact on the development and availability of formal services in communities (Campbell, Ikegami, & Gibson,

In the U.S, one in four will be aged 60 years and older by 2050 (U.S. Census Bureau). This represents an overwhelming number of people who will either be in the caretaker role or be the ROC. Like today, most of the care will be provided by informal unpaid caregivers. The number of informal unpaid caregivers is expected to rise from 20 million in 2000 to 37 million in 2050 (Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation [ASPE], 2003). Because of the burden of care giving, many caregivers will experience depression, poor health and quality of life (Etters, Goodall, & Harrison, 2008). Their well-being is an important public health concern.

In 2008, while doing consulting work for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Pat Billings and Ruth Hamlin came upon a program developed by Stanford University called Powerful Tools for Caregivers. The program intrigued both Pat and Ruth as both have been fulltime family caregivers and both have worked in the care giving field as professionals most of their adult life. Little did they know that the program they presented to the Executive Services Corps, NE Board of Directors would have an impact on over 1,500 caregivers in eastern Nebraska and southwest Iowa.