CareGiver Support

APRIL 2013 A Special Thank You… Thank you to toAllsup, Home Instead Senior Care,UnitedHealthcare, and Lotsa Helping Hands for their support of the special caregiving supplement in the March 15th weekend edition of USA Today! TAKE CARE! is the monthly electronic newsletter of the Caregiver Action Network, a not-for-profit organization. For membership information or to respond to articles, contact: CAN10400 Connecticut Ave. Suite 500 Kensington, MD 20895-3944 Phone: 301/942-6430 Fax: 301/942-2302 info@caregiveraction.org www.caregiveraction.org John Schall, Chief Executive Officer The suggestions contained and resources referenced in TAKE CARE! are for informational purposes only. Be certain to consult a trained professional or attorney before taking any actions in follow-up to information that you learn or read in TAKE CARE! Caregiver Action Network (National Family Caregivers Association) shall not be liable for any damages or any other liability that may occur in connection with caregiving decisions or actions undertaken by readers of TAKE CARE! Copyright © 2013. National Family Caregivers Association and Caregiver Action Network. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means without permission in writing from the publisher. ISSN # 1085-374X CAN Board of Directors Jon Shanfield, Chair IBERIABANK Elizabeth Pearson, Secretary/Treasurer Pearson & Bernard PSC Candace Baldwin NCB Capital Impact Hal Chapel Lotsa Helping Hands Andrea Cohen HouseWorks Ruben King-Shaw Jr. Mansa Equity Partners Cheri Lattimer Case Management Society of America Rich Metzger Saturing Suzanne Mintz Ex-officio Jim Paglia In’s & Out’s, Inc. Dean Stephens Healthline Networks New! “Supporting Our Caregivers” in USA Today  The March 15th weekend edition of USA Today included a special 18-page supplement on “Supporting Our Caregivers”!  Spearheaded by CAN, the supplement featured a foreword by CAN’s CEO John Schall and includes loads of useful information for caregivers. The entire supplement is available online. Reaching Family Caregivers on Facebook In just three months, CAN’s Facebook page has grown by leaps and bounds! We want to let you know about a few exciting things happening on our Facebook page: We started a new activity on Facebook called "Photo Friday". Each Friday we want you to share your photos and thoughts on family caregiving with us and caregivers like you. The photo can be of any moment you wish to share. Just upload your photo on our Facebook page with a brief description. We can't wait to see what everyone has to share. We are launching an “Ask the Expert” tab on Facebook where you can post your caregiving questions for a professional to respond. Our featured expert this month is Dr. Barry Jacobs, clinical psychologist, family therapist and author. To ask a question, and stay anonymous, send your questions to info@caregiveraction.org. We would love to have your feedback about CAN’s Facebook page! Please take a minute to share with us. The Family Caregiver ToolboxNational Family Caregiver Support Program: Call your Member of Congress today (800-833-6354) and ask them to: “Please sign onto Rep. Langevin’s Letter to the House Appropriations Committee requesting funding this year for the Lifespan Respite Care Program and the National Family Caregiver Support Program. Family caregivers need the help.” The National Family Caregiver Support Program, established in 2000, provides funds to states to assist family caregivers with information, assistance, counseling, respite care and other limited services. Read more about the program here. Make News! Have you noticed that family caregiving is in the news more than ever before? Would you be willing to share your caregiving story with newspaper, radio or even television reporters? Caregiver Action Network frequently gets requests from the media to talk to family caregivers just like you. If you are willing to talk about your caregiving experience with a reporter, please send us a message with your name, contact information, and a sentence about your caregiving situation, including your relationship to your care recipient and their primary illness, disability or condition. Please enter "Share" in the subject line. Caregiving and Alzheimer'sA new study just published in the New England Journal of Medicine says the total cost of Alzheimer’s disease is as high as $215 billion a year. The biggest cost is not drugs or other medical treatments, but the care that is needed just to get mentally impaired people through daily life, including lost wages for family caregivers. CAN’s powerful new online Alzheimer’s video series features actual Alzheimer’s caregivers talking about their experiences and providing inspiration, perspective and advice. The videos feature actual Alzheimer’s caregivers talking about their experiences and providing inspiration, perspective and advice. Topics include: Discovering Alzheimer’s Disease, Life as a Caregiver, Caregiver Tacticsand Finding Support. Watch them yourself. Or tell a friend who has a loved one with Alzheimer’s about the videos.The series of 20 short segments can be watched all at once or individually – whenever you can find a few minutes. Did You Know... National Volunteer Week is April 21 – 27. Our friends at Lotsa Helping Hands are collecting inspiring stories for National Volunteer Week this month. Share how your Caregiver Action Network community has inspired you. And if you don’t have aLotsa community, maybe you should! Joining CAN is free for family caregivers! Send to a friendso they can join too. connect with us   This e-mail was sent from Caregiver Action Network Immediate removal with PatronMail® SecureUnsubscribe. To change your e-mail address or update preferences, use this link.