Most of us believe that filial duty toward our elderly parents eclipses the inconvenience and privation that is manifest in caring for them. But, almost anyone who’s been a caregiver for the aged and chronically ill, experiences the negative effects of dedicating incalculable amounts of time to providing care. Financial hardship, depression, isolation, and anxiety are among them. Because of the worldwide aging population, several countries, and indeed several U.S. states, such as Hawaii, are taking practical steps to mitigate the pressure on families with limited resources who are caring for senior family members.
According to an article in Apolitical, the State of Hawaii made a groundbreaking change in 2018 in how it values the time that caregivers spend at home looking after family. The state will now offer up to $70 a day, albeit with significant restrictions, to contracted providers for services like cooking, cleaning, and transport on behalf of citizens who spend large amounts of their lives undertaking unpaid care work.
The article goes on to state that for many – mostly female – primary caregivers, it means having to work fewer paid hours or taking a break from a career, which can mean cumulatively lower income as time goes on.
“Older women are much more likely to live in poverty in later life,” said Elizabeth Broderick, UN Special Rapporteur on discrimination against women. “Unpaid caring work doesn’t come into our productivity calculations, but without it – if women were to step away from that – we would have a huge crisis,” she said.
An article in the American Society on Aging (ASA) quarterly journal, generations presents a case for developing a caregiver assessment process, it is important to keep in mind that not all family caregivers need help. Many families with several members who share the caregiving job are able to manage on their own. And most family members and friends who willingly undertake caregiving find it a source of deep satisfaction and meaning.
Still, many family caregivers experience struggles, worries, and frustrations. Even in the best-case scenarios, there may be particular times—transitions, crises, new health problems, changes in the family—when caregivers need help.
It is ultimately in the best interest of both the caregiver and recipient, the latter often suffering chronic illness, to find solutions that benefit both parties and are economically viable for the government. In a compelling article in The Guardian, The UK, and US Must Learn from Poor Countries to Solve Ageing Crisis, the soaring numbers of aging populations around the world have created innovative, somewhat ingenious experiments to solve the personal and financial cost of caregiving:
Some international solutions include:
- Devoting an entire city in Chile to experimenting with elderly care.
- The increasing involvement of older people in democracy through old people’s councils in Brazil.
- Training armies of volunteers in elderly care, as in several Southeast Asian nations.
- Establishing job creation schemes for older people, Finland and South Korea have both done.
The problems associated with growing old and caring for the aged and infirm in nearly every country, worldwide, require urgent attention of the finest minds, and unfettered commitment of economic resources in finding practical, workable solutions.
We want to hear from you, so feel free to share tips, ideas, and resources for seniors with Grannybooster. Email me, Maris Somerville, at info@grannybooster.com
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