More Resources for National Family Caregiver & Home Care and Hospice Month

​HCAOA is proud to honor family caregivers, veterans, and home care providers this month, alongside a growing list of supporters. The information and resources below from CMS and HCAOA are available for your organization to add to your organization’s support during the month.

Download resources, like the signature graphics below, from HCAOA here.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Office of Minority Health (CMS OMH) shared the following statistics.
- Caregivers are family members or friends who typically provide unpaid, long-term, community-based care and assistance to older adults and people with chronic health conditions or disabilities.
- 22.3% of Americans are caregivers, with more than two thirds of Americans being likely to need assistance with a task at some point in their lives.
- While providing care to those with chronic health conditions, caregivers also face their own disparities. An estimated 9.9% of Americans aged 45 to 64 years do not have health insurance, compared to 1.1% of caregivers aged 65 years and older.
- Hispanic caregivers (85.2%) are less likely to report having health insurance than their White (94.3%), Asian American (94.1%), and African and American (89.1%) counterparts.
- 14.5% of caregivers reported 14 or more mentally unhealthy days within a 30-day period while 17.6% reported 14 or more physically unhealthy days within that same time frame.
- Among caregivers aged 65 years and older, 40.7% reported having two or more chronic diseases, compared to 34.8% of caregivers aged 45 to 64 years. 

​During National Family Caregivers Month and Home Care & Hospice Month, HCAOA encourages members to review and share the resources below.

Resources:

• Attend the free, all-member webinar “National Strategy to Support Family Caregivers: How it Affects Home Care Operations” on Monday, November 14, at 2:00 p.m.
• Use the signature templates created by HCAOA in your emails (Free benefit of HCAOA membership)
• Personalize the Veteran’s Day press release drafted by HCAOA and send it out to your local media
• Visit CMS OMH’s Chronic Care Management and Connected Care webpage to find resources for patients, and their caregivers, who are managing multiple chronic conditions.
• Visit CMS’s Caregiver Partners webpage to find information for caregivers and learn more about quarterly Caregiver Workgroup meetings.
• Use Medicare’s Care Compare tool to compare information about Medicare- and Medicaid-certified nursing homes and hospitals to find the best health care services to assist you in caregiving.
• Check out the National Institute on Aging’s Caregiving webpage which features resources on managing doctor’s appointments, tips for maintaining the health and wellbeing of caregivers, information on assessing changes in memory and function, and more. 
• Download the National Institute on Aging’s Long-Distance Caregiving (PDF) that features 20 questions and answers to assist caregivers who are helping family members or friends from afar. 
• Download CDC’s Complete Care Plan form, which allows caregivers to establish a care plan that will help caregivers balance life and the person being cared for.
• View the U.S. Administration of Aging’s Eldercare Locator, which helps caregivers find resources for older adults in communities across the country.

Learn more about the Caregiver Action Network, a resource for caregivers that allows them to share stories, discuss, and offers tips and advice to family caregivers.