The SCAN Foundation

Caregiving is a tricky business. Family members and friends who lend a hand in providing long-term services and supports enter a stress-filled world, where their own health may become at risk because of the burden of being a caregiver. The federal government is providing new resources for those already enrolled as caregivers, and others who may assume the role, according to a May 26, 2010 announcement by the federal government. These new resources include videos for researchers and policymakers that provide insight into the demands on caregivers as they deliver long-term services and supports.

Keeping people from going back to the hospital is better for their physical and mental health and their ability to keep living at home. Repeated readmissions will weaken them so they will need long-term services and supports, often in a nursing home, according to a spring 2010 report, “Readmissions to California Hospitals, 2005 to 2006,” by the state of California Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development.

There is a new frontier for ombudsmen and other advocates who have been helping people in nursing homes in need of long-term services and supports to use their skills. They can turn their skills to the protection of people in assisted living, residential facilities with accommodations that are much more like an individual’s home or apartment. Assisted living also offers supportive elements such as common dining rooms and prepared meals, a nurse on duty, help if needed with taking medication or with bathing and dressing. “Long-term care ombudsmen and citizen advocates are increasingly working with consumers receiving services in assisted living settings,” according to a March 18, 2010, webinar and presentation by the Assisted Living Consumer Alliance (ALCL).

There are various living arrangements for people who need long-term services and supports. Some may stay in their own homes with help from family and friends and neighbors. Others may join friends of the same age in shared housing and other cooperative arrangements. “As the population ages, it will be increasingly important to find healthy and affordable solutions for community living for seniors,” according to the December 2009 report “There’s no Place like Home: Models of Supportive Housing for Seniors,”   and briefing by the California Healthcare Foundation. The report looks at various housing models, including “Naturally Occurring Retirement Communities (NORCs); Living At Home/Block Nurse Programs; Villages; Senior Cohousing; and Senior Cooperative Housing.”