January 2010 E-Letter to NFCA Online members and friends
MI Family Caregivers
Encouraging Family Caregivers to Speak Up
January 2010 E-Letter to NFCA Online members and friends
Happy New Year!
We wish you and your family a healthy and peaceful 2010. Make sure
that this year you continue to Speak Up for your loved one AND
yourself.
This month, find information on:
Keep Up With the Latest in the Health Reform Debate
Nearly One-Third of U.S. Adults Are Family Caregivers
Access Books Without Barriers
AstraZeneca Changes AZ&Me Prescription Savings Program
National Association For Continence Upcoming Webinar
TAKE CARE! Is Going Electronic
Make Your 2010 New Year’s Resolutions
Keep Up With the Latest in the Health Reform Debate
With the status of healthcare reform legislation before Congress
changing on a day-by-day basis, keeping up with the latest news and
information may seem like a daunting task. Kaiser Health News (KHN) is
a nonprofit news organization committed to in-depth coverage of
healthcare policy and politics. The KHN Web site features daily
summaries of major healthcare news from across the nation. KHN is a
major program of the nonprofit Kaiser Family Foundation. For the
latest healthcare reform news, go to http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/Headlines.aspx.
It’s not too late to speak up to members of Congress by sharing your
story and letting them know that healthcare reform is good for family
caregivers. For contact information for your senators and
representative, go to www.senate.gov and www.house.gov.
Nearly One-Third of U.S. Adults Are Family Caregivers
Caregiving is still mostly a woman's job and many women are putting
their career and financial futures on hold as they juggle part-time
caregiving and full-time job requirements. This is the reality
reported in Caregiving in the U.S. 2009, the most comprehensive
examination to date of caregiving in America. The sweeping study of
the legions of people caring for adults, the elderly, and children
with special needs reveals that 29% of the U.S. adult population, or
65.7 million people, are caregivers, including 31% of all households.
These caregivers provide an average of 20 hours of care per week.
Caregiving in the U.S. was conducted for the National Alliance for
Caregiving in collaboration with AARP. The study replicates similar
studies conducted in 2004 and 1997 and includes, for the first time, a
sampling of those caring for children as well as those caring for
adults over the age of 18.
Among the study’s findings:
Ø American caregivers are predominantly female (66%) and are an
average of 48 years old. Most care for a relative (86%), most often a
parent (36%).
Ø Seven in 10 caregivers care for someone over age 50.
Ø One in seven caregivers provides care, over and above regular
parenting, to a child with special needs (14%).
Ø Caregiving lasts an average of 4.6 years.
Ø One in six caregivers (17%) reports that caregiving has had a
negative impact on their health.
Access Books Without Barriers
Bookshare™ is an online library of digital books for people who have
difficulty reading print publications. It operates under an exception
to U.S. copyright law that allows copyrighted digital books to be made
available to people with qualifying disabilities, including visual
impairments, physical disabilities, and learning disabilities.
Bookshare members download books, textbooks and newspapers in a
compressed, encrypted file. They can then read the material using
adaptive technology, typically software that reads the book aloud
(text-to-speech) and/or displays the text of the book on a computer
screen, or Braille access devices, such as refreshable Braille
displays.
Through an award from the U.S. Department of Education Office of
Special Education Programs, Bookshare offers free memberships to U.S.
schools and qualifying U.S. students. Individual and organizational
memberships are also available. To learn more, go to http://www.bookshare.org/.
AstraZeneca Changes AZ&Me Prescription Savings Program
The AZ&Me™ Prescription Savings Program has announced the following
changes, effective January 1, 2010: The AZ&Me™ Prescription Savings
program for people with Medicare Part D will be changing from a retail
pharmacy-based program to a mail-order program where eligible patients
will receive their AstraZeneca medicines at no-cost; patients will now
be required to provide proof of income documentation; enrollment and
re-enrollment for the AZ&Me™ Prescription Savings program for people
without insurance and for people with Medicare Part D will be
available online at www.azandme.com; patients will have the ability to
refill and check the status of enrollment or refill online at www.azandme.com;
and, for those who prefer completing a hard-copy application, the
AZ&Me™ Prescription Savings program will now offer one streamlined
application, in English and Spanish.
If you are an individual making $30,000 or less or a family of four
making $60,000 or less you may qualify for an AZ&Me™ Prescription
Savings program. You can download the application at www.azandme.com
or call 800/AzandMe (292-6363) to request an application in the mail.
National Association For Continence Upcoming Webinar
The National Association For Continence is hosting an educational
webinar series that includes free online seminars, linking
participants via toll-free conference calls and the Internet. Each
discussion topic will be followed by a live question and answer
session, hosted by a healthcare professional. Join webinar presenter
Michelle Morrill, M.D., director of urogynecology at Kaiser San
Francisco, for Function of the Bladder & the Role of Pelvic Support,
on Tuesday, January 19, at 8:00 p.m. (EST). Space is limited. To
register, go to www.nafc.org. If you know someone who would like to
register but lacks Internet access, an audio-only connection is
possible toll-free. Call 800/BLADDER to register.
TAKE CARE! Is Going Electronic
NFCA is launching a new, easy-to-access version of our quarterly
publication, TAKE CARE! Starting with the spring 2010 issue, we will
launch an electronic version of TAKE CARE! that will appear in your e-
mail as a vibrant, interactive e-newsletter that provides you with
easy access to additional information and links to the resources that
can make your life a bit easier. This new electronic version of Take
Care! will automatically appear in your e-mail and you will be able to
print it out for free.
To ensure that you receive the electronic version of the newsletter,
NFCA must have your e-mail address. Don’t delay. Send an e-mail today
to newsl...@thefamilycaregiver.org.
Make Your 2010 New Year’s Resolutions
NFCA wants to remind you that when you think about your resolutions
for 2010, make sure you include a few for your own physical and mental
health and well-being. Here are some ideas from NFCA’s 10 Tips for
Family Caregivers:
Caregiving is a job and respite is your earned right. Reward yourself
with respite breaks often.
Watch out for signs of depression, and don’t delay in getting
professional help when you need it.
When people offer to help, accept the offer and suggest specific
things that they can do.
Educate yourself about your loved one’s condition and how to
communicate effectively with doctors.
There’s a difference between caring and doing. Be open to technologies
and ideas that promote your loved one’s independence.
Trust your instincts. Most of the time they’ll lead you in the right
direction.
Caregivers often do a lot of lifting, pushing, and pulling. Be good to
your back.
Grieve for your losses, and then allow yourself to dream new dreams.
Seek support from other caregivers. There is great strength in knowing
you are not alone.
Stand up for your rights as a caregiver and a citizen.
To access more of NFCA’s tips and tools for family caregivers, go to
http://thefamilycaregiver.org/caregiving_resources/tips_and_tools.cfm.
National family caregivers association ·10400 connecticut ave
·kensington, md ·20895· 301.942.6430 www.thefamilycaregiver.org
This e-mail was sent from National Family Caregivers Association