Helping Family Caregivers

Studies have shown that providing care to elderly relatives can harm the health of the caregiver. Reports have also shown that a family caregiver can see an increase in his or her own health-care bills by an average of $4,766 a year. Family caregivers also tend to have a higher rate of emergency room, doctor, and hospital visits than non-family caregivers. As a result, some companies and nonprofits have begun offering free a low-cost professional help for caregivers.

One such company, Genworth Financial, recently introduced a new service for AARP members that provides support both online and over the phone for families of elderly adults with dementia and other illnesses. The service is not free, and the fees vary depending on the services used.

Home Instead Senior Care has begun training its home-care providers in new techniques to help improve the care of dementia patients. Home Instead is now also offering to teach family caregivers the same techniques online for free.

Form more information of caregiver resources, see Kelly Greene, New Resources for Caregivers, The Wall Street Journal, Feb. 18, 2012.

Special thanks to Jim Hillhouse (Professional Legal Marketing (PLM, Inc.)) for bringing this article to my attention.