Advocating for Caregiver Support

I’ve just returned from a wonderful and interesting few days in Washington where a group comprised of myself, a geriatric physician, a psychiatrist,, a health insurance executive, and a few other people met to discuss caregivers and their needs. We worked on putting together a plan/protocol to make sure caregivers get the help they need, and are seen by the medical staff to oversee their own health. We all know the stats on caregiver burnout, and the fact that some caregivers will die before the one they are taking care of does. Not encouraging but the meeting was. It is wonderful to know that we will not always be the 2nd victim or the forgotten one. Caregiving is a difficult task and we caregivers need all the support we can get. I would like to see, someday, a time when the government will reimburse caregivers. After all, the time caregivers spend caregiving, saves the government millions of dollars. Let’s put a dollar value on this time and effort that has taken many of us away from our jobs and lives.