Caregiver Action Matters

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In this edition of Care Fully, you’ll read about:

• Eldercare support

• Child care advocacy

• Caregiver creative pursuits

• More news for you.

Eldercare needs support

Today, there are 23 million caregivers caring for older adults in the US. While the topic of caregiving is in the mainstream, significant challenges create obstacles. The shortage of healthcare resources adds more fuel to the roaring fire. “We live in a society where if you’re having a child, people congratulate you and ask how many kids you have and want to see photos. If you say you’re taking care of an elder parent, they say ‘I’m sorry’ and walk away. There’s not much honor or respect given to eldercare givers.” Those words resonate with me because they summarize most of my caregiving journey. Work was top of mind and I did my best to maintain my productivity. Imparting the complexity of caring for a chronically ill older adult to employers and colleagues was a nightmare. Navigating those complexities with no knowledge or support was less than ideal. I couldn't win. I felt an absurd amount of guilt while I was at work, and more guilt when I was with my Mother. Eldercare deserves attention. This is the time to make that happen.

Multi-sector action = child care momentum

Feelings and emotions run the gamut about the “Big Beautiful Bill.” However, there is one piece of the bill I didn’t know about until recently. Moms First, a nonprofit headed by Reshma Saujani, led a multi-sector child care advocacy effort across the over 50 employers. They engaged both sides of the aisle. You can learn more about the organization’s strategy in this article. The efforts contributed to three tax cuts. While that is a win, there are other aspects of the bill that will result in hardship for disabled children and older adults. Saujani states, “What we realized in this advocacy is that progress isn’t sweeping, it’s incremental,” she says. “We’re in a once-in-a-lifetime generational fight for child care, and that means that we have to celebrate the wins even when they’re imperfect.”

Caregivers using their creativity to help others

I’ve shared a bit about my caregiving journey. I can’t sugar coat it, the experience changed me in a myriad of ways. As a result, I built tools such as this newsletter and the Whole Caregiver podcast that I co-host to help other caregivers along their journeys. These are some of the resources that I looked for during my caregiving journey. There may be in time during or later into your own journey when you want to tap into something from your experience that could lead to a creative pursuit. Check out the examples below.

More news. . .

• The Caregiver Nation Summit is coming soon. Stay tuned for the agenda.

• Social security might be a thing of the past by the time you retire. Make sure you’ve got a plan to cover caregiver costs.

• Digital First Healthcare may be coming to a plan near you.

• Check out the “Caregiving” documentary’s “behind the scenes” clips after you’ve seen the actual documentary.

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Keep cool.

Erna