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Caregiver Program |
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Family Caregiving is the bedrock upon which this country’s healthcare system depends. The services provided by unpaid family caregivers now represent 80% of all home care services and are conservatively valued at $257 billion a year, or more than twice the amount spent on paid home care and all nursing home services combined.
Family Caregiving is a patchwork of many jobs sewn into one. Caregivers provide a vast array of financial, medical-nursing, social, homemaking, and personal care services on a daily basis. For some, it means providing 24 hour care for someone who can’t dress, eat, go to the bathroom, or even think independently. For others, Caregiving is an emotional roller coaster because a loved one’s condition may only manifest itself intermittently before it progresses.
This year, more than 50 million people are serving as Caregivers within their families. Most women will care for her child 17 years and her aging parents for 20+ years. Men now make up 44% of Caregivers. Caregiving can go on for a few years or for a lifetime. It means re-evaluating finances and living arrangements, re-evaluating careers, and making compromises. It is giving of yourself for another.
The East Arkansas Area Agency on Aging provides two Family Care Specialists who coordinate the Family Caregiver Support Program in twelve counties. Services provided through the Family Caregiver Program are free of charge and include:
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- Community Awareness Presentations
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- Subscription to Aging Arkansas
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- Caregiver Education & Training
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- Link to Resources & Resource Library
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- NFCA Membership & Representation
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Caring Every Day
Believe, Protect, Reach Out
Our Family Care Specialists are members of the National Family Caregivers Association and serve as National CCAN representatives for the State of Arkansas. They coordinate the Caregiver Community Action Network volunteers, elevating community awareness in Family Caregiving, recognizing Family Caregivers for their unselfish dedication and work, providing family mediation and counseling and linking Family Caregivers to resources and services as well as current research and educational opportunities.
Click Here for a complete listing of County Support Groups
Click Here for Newsletter Information
Links:
www.alzark.org
www.alzokar.org
www.caregiver.com
www.thefamilycaregiver.org
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