Funding Opportunities-Lifespan Respite Care

Each year, Congress appropriates funds for use by AoA and the other Federal Agencies in carrying out their mission. AoA provides grant funding to States and territories, recognized Native American Tribes and Hawaiian Americans, as well as nonprofit organizations, including faith-based and academic institutions. Individuals are not eligible to apply for AoA funding.

For those new to the AoA grants management environment, the Overview section below provides a brief profile of the types of grant instruments we use to fund our programs, the procedures applicants must follow in applying for these grants and the reporting which is required of recipients.

• Overview

2011
Title	FY 2011 Lifespan Respite Care Program
Agency/Center:	Administration on Aging (AoA)
Announcement Type:	Initial
Funding Opportunity Number:	HHS-2011-AoA-LR-1103
Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number:	93.072
Key Dates:	The deadline date for submission of applications is 11:59 p.m., Eastern Time, on May 20, 2011.
Downloads: Program Announcement and Grant Application Instructions (PDF) (DOC)

Funding Opportunities

10 Ways to Stay Connected with The National Resource Directory

By the National Resource Directory Staff

Do you know about the National Resource Directory (NRD)? The NRD connects Wounded Warriors, Service Members, Veterans, family members and caregivers with services and resources at the national, state and local levels that support recovery, rehabilitation and community reintegration. The site offers a number of ways to stay connected, receive valuable information and find resources.

10 Ways to Stay Connected with The National Resource Directory

1. Keep your family, friends and colleagues up to date on programs and services helping Veterans, Service Members and their families by suggesting that they subscribe to National Resource Directory email updates.

2. Become a part of the growing National Resource Directory family on Facebook.

3. Get news and information about resources delivered directly to your desktop when you subscribe to the National Resource Directory’s RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feed.

4. Find programs and services near you by visiting the National Resource Directory’s Information by State section.


5. Spread the word about the National Resource Directory by putting a link on your website or blog.

6. Recommend a resource, organization or program in your community that you think should be included on the National Resource Directory through Suggest A Resource.

7. View automatically updated resources available in your state directly on your own website or blog by adding the National Resource Directory's State Widget.

8. Become a member of the National Resource Directory's LinkedIn group and connect with people who share your interests and concerns.

9. Stay up to date on news and events of interest to Veterans and military families by visiting the National Resource Directory's In The News page.

10. Visit the National Resource Directory's Facility and Records Locator page to find the locations of VA facilities and Social Security offices, as well as locations and contact information for military installations and VA records and military personnel records.

Posted by Diana Z. on Apr 5, 2011 5:50:21 AM in Veterans & Military

The National Resource Center on LGBT Aging New Portal on LGBT Caregiving

The National Resource Center on LGBT Aging is proud to announce the launch of its new portal on LGBT caregiving.

Caregiving is an issue that affects all of us—most of us will be caregivers or need care at some point in our lives. Providing care for a loved one can be difficult under any circumstances, but LGBT caregivers, in particular, face several unique challenges.

The Resource Center's caregiving section is designed to address these challenges. Please visit www.lgbtagingcenter.org to check out new caregiving articles, presentations and other resources, including:

• Informative articles on a number of LGBT caregiving issues, from the legal documents LGBT caregivers need, to finding LGBT-friendly home care workers
• Videos that vividly illustrate the issues unique to LGBT caregiving
• Publications for LGBT older adults and service providers, such as financial planning tool kits, tips for working with transgender clients and the latest research on LGBT aging issues
• Links to local resources in communities across the country, from caregiving and health care locators, to LGBT community centers
• Training and continuing education resources for aging services providers and LGBT organizations to help ensure that institutions serving older adults are welcoming to LGBT elders.

Survey & Raffle Winner
Thank you to everyone who took our survey. Your input is an essential part of ensuring that the Resource Center offers the information and tools most needed by LGBT older adults and those who support them. And congratulations to our survey raffle winner, C. Nancy Cook of Richmond, VA!

Best Regards,

Hilary Meyer
Director, National Resource Center on LGBT Aging

VA Caregiver Support Line

Image via Wikipedia
On February 1, 2011, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) opened a toll-free National Caregiver Support Line.  The support line serves as a primary resource/referral center to assist caregivers, Veterans and others seeking caregiver information to help in the care of our Nation's Veterans.

Calls to The National Caregiver Support Line will be answered by VA employees who are licensed clinical social workers.

The Support Line provides information on VA/ community caregiver support resources and "warm" referral to dedicated Caregiver Support Coordinators located in every VA Medical Center; emotional support for the caregiver is an integral component of this service. The National Caregiver Support Line is also available to respond to inquiries about the caregiver benefits associated with Public Law 111-163, Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act of 2010.

The National Caregiver Support Line will be open Monday through Friday 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. and Saturday 10:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Eastern Time, the Toll-Free number is 1-855-260-3274.

You can also visit the VA's updated VA Caregiver Support: Caring for those Who Care Website

New German Robot Designed to Help Caregivers

A new robot being developed in Germany is expected to be on the market within the next few years. Researchers hope that the machine, called Casero, will hopefully be able to accommodate some of the growing need for health products and services by aging baby boomers and seniors, according to TMCNet.com.

Unlike other electronic caretakers under development, Casero is strictly designed as a service vehicle for senior living homes and can carry up to 100 kilograms.
Full Article

Marki Flannery: Home Health Aides: On the Front Lines of Caregiving

by Marki Flannery

Although home health aides provide assistance with all the "stuff" of daily life, the job of a home health aide cannot and should not be done by just anybody -- contrary to all-too-popular belief. Trained home health aides are highly skilled, compassionate caregivers; every day they man the vital front lines of healthcare for vulnerable seniors and others who are not stable enough to be on their own. These talented aides are the best offense for keeping at-risk individuals out of the hospital and living safely and as comfortably as possible in their own homes.

A good home health aide knows that daily activities -- bathing, dressing, eating, sleeping -- are really barometers of health. Subtle changes may indicate deteriorating health or issues with medication.

• If a patient is eating less or sleeping more than usual, do medications or dosages need adjusting?
• If the patient did not previously need help dressing and now does, has his or her condition degenerated?
• If a patient is refusing to bathe, are there emotional issues that need addressing?

A well-trained home health aide is much more likely to notice changes in a patient's behavior or well-being and act immediately and appropriately.
Full Article

Funny Prayer about Getting Old at the Caregiver of the Year Dinner

A Reminder That Laughter is the Best Medicine from the Caregiverstress.com web page



Download a copy of the poem, Blessed In Aging (PDF 275k), which Mary reads at the end of her prayer.

HCBS / More Info:Caregivers of Veterans – Serving on the Homefront

Summary

While caregivers of veterans face similar situations as family caregivers in general, they also have unique challenges. The study reveals how providing care affects these caregivers’ lives, what organizations and information sources have been helpful to them, and what programs and services would support and assist them. Attached are links to the Full Report, Executive Summary in English and Spanish, Press Release, and a Key Findings Fact Sheet.

Available Files

• Full Report PDF (1,224K, 84 pages)
• Executive Summary-English PDF (548K, 20 pages)
• Executive Summary-Spanish PDF (799K, 20 pages)
• Key Findings PDF (38K, 3 pages)
• Press Release PDF (137K, 4 pages)
• Website Off-site link

Caregiving Without Siblings - NYTimes.com

By PAULA SPAN

Yet Ms. Milgram-Bossong e-mailed me a few weeks back to say, “I am frightened, horrified in fact, of the near future.” The reason: She’s an only child.

“There could be some agonizing times ahead, and I’m facing it alone,” she said when I called. Research shows that even when there are several adult children, just one (a daughter, usually) emerges as the so-called primary caregiver and handles the bulk of her parents’ care. But Ms. Milgram-Bossong finds that minor consolation.

“Even if I had a sibling in California, I’d have someone to talk to. I have no one to bounce ideas off, to think about what I’m not thinking about,” she said. Widowed in her 50s with no children, she’s determined to do well by her parents when they need her, but the prospect keeps her awake nights.


Regina Milgram-Bossong, meet Margaret Reiss, 48, an insurance broker in San Francisco. Ms. Reiss knows that her parents, living independently in Florida, will need help before very long. Her father is still strong at 90, but becoming more forgetful; her mother, 94, is mentally sharp but physically very frail. “I’d like to talk and think about these decisions before we need to make them,” Ms. Reiss told me.

But having a brother in California and a sister in Maryland, both older, hasn’t helped. “We’re not on the same page,” she lamented.
Full Article

A New Eldercare Resource - NYTimes.com

By PAULA SPAN

On Friday afternoon, the federal Administration on Aging unveils its new, improved elder care locator. The major change: anyone who dials the toll-free number, (800) 677-1116, from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern time on weekdays should get an actual human on the line, ready to answer questions about government services and refer seniors and caregivers to local agencies that can help.

“My strong personal preference is that the best way to provide consumer assistance is in person — face to face, or on the phone,” said Kathy Greenlee, assistant secretary for aging at the federal Department of Health and Human Services. “Talking to someone about a situation, providing direction — there’s no substitute.”

The locator, intended as the first stop for those seeking services for older people in their counties, began as a phone service in 1991 and a decade later added a popular Web site, www.eldercare.gov. It had live operators until two years ago, when it switched to a recorded routing system.
Full Article

Caregiving Thrives at an Intersection of Faiths

Image via CrunchBaseby Jane Gross

Amid the fiery national debate over the limits of religious tolerance — and a veteran myself of the never-ending frustration of family caregivers that aides are often too overwhelmed to do their jobs properly, assigned too many patients and sometimes just plain not cut out for the work — I was touched by their solicitude. Aides of all denominations — Baptist, Roman Catholic, Seventh Day Adventist — tended lovingly to these elderly Jewish men and women, Holocaust survivors among them, although fewer with each passing year.

One would like to think that caring for the elderly universally brings out the best in people, and always transcends religious and cultural barriers. That has been my experience most of the time but, alas, not always. This holiday lifted my heart.

“God created people,’’ Rabbi Hirschhorn reminded me. “God did not create religion. People created religion.’’
Full Article

Till Dementia Do Us Part: Alzheimer's Caregivers, Spouses Seek New Love, Relationship - AARP Bulletin

by: Cynthia Ramnarace | from: AARP Bulletin

For 10 years, A.B. Amis shepherded his wife, Frances, through the dark maze of Alzheimer's disease.
.............................................
The job of caregiver was tough, the hours long, the emotional toll enormous. A.B. watched as Frances disappeared little by little. This slow death left A.B. both immensely sad and incredibly lonely, very typical emotions for a caregiver.

"Caregiving is overwhelming, and there's no reward," says geriatric psychiatrist William Uffner, M.D., medical director for the Older Adult Program at Friends Hospital in Philadelphia. "Sometimes you wind up doing things that you would do for your 6-month- or 3 1/2-year-old child."

But a caregiver of older people doesn't get the positive feedback a child gives—growth, development, a glimpse of a future, Uffner says. Confronting a progressive series of losses is just incredibly disappointing. "And then you don't even have your husband or your wife when it gets too frustrating and you have a meltdown," he says.
Read Full Article

 

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The Caregiver's Bookshelf: The Beginnings of Alzheimer's - NYTimes.com

By PAULA SPAN

It’s been nearly 30 years since Dr. Peter Rabins, a Johns Hopkins psychiatrist, and his co-author Nancy Mace published “The 36-Hour Day,” the best known guide to caring for someone with Alzheimer’s disease. Now in its fourth edition, it remains a trusted source of information and support.

But the landscape of dementia — its diagnosis, its treatment, how much neuroscience has advanced, how much the public understands — has changed dramatically, as Gina Kolata has been reporting in The Times.
As she also points out, this progress in diagnosing Alzheimer’s will mean that families are likely to face tough decisions sooner than ever.

“The book was a landmark twenty-some years ago when people were being diagnosed with what we’d call moderate to end-stage dementia,” said Dr. P. Murali Doraiswamy, a prominent researcher on the aging brain at Duke University Medical Center. “Now people are being diagnosed much earlier, when they’re still functioning well, and there’s a push to diagnose at even earlier stages.” With more medications available, with better understanding of the non-Alzheimer’s dementias, “people want to be more proactive,” Dr. Doraiswamy said. “They want to join clinical trials. They want ways to protect their brains.”

So Dr. Doraiswamy, with Lisa Gwyther, a social worker who directs Duke’s Alzheimer’s family support program, and Tina Adler, a science writer, intend for their book, “The Alzheimer’s Action Plan,” to fill a gap. “It’s essentially a book about the early stage of the disease,” Dr. Doraiswamy said.
Continue Reading

NPR: Technology Can Help Seniors Stay In Homes

Image via WikipediaNPR continued its series on seniors aging at home.

Part two examined a company called Adaptive Home, "one of a growing number of startups that use monitoring technology to revolutionize elder care. These companies are also betting on a big market as the baby boomers enter old age. Chris Bridgers says a basic package includes about a dozen motion sensors placed strategically around a house. They can provide adult children with a stunningly detailed rundown of a parent's day" (Ludden, 8/23).

Part three continued looking at "wired homes," with an example of a older couple in Georgia monitored via live video hookup to a company in Indiana. "The scene may not seem so strange in the era of Skype, when many people use the computer to keep in touch with far-flung relatives. But ['telegiver' Denise] Cady can see almost every move the Fitzgeralds make. Their house is wired with video cameras ... ResCare's services start at $600 a month and can run well over $1,000 depending on how much active monitoring is needed. But that's still a lot less than the average nursing home" (Ludden, 8/24).
Read Full Article

Applications Are Being Accepted for the Third Annual Rosalinde Gilbert Innovations in Alzheimer's Disease Caregiving Legacy Awards

Initiated in 2007, The Rosalinde Gilbert Innovations in Alzheimer's Disease Caregiver Legacy Award is intended to promote promising practices and stimulate innovation in the field of Alzheimer's caregiving by recognizing and rewarding those efforts which lead the way in addressing the needs of Alzheimer's caregivers.

Three awards of $20,000 each will be awarded to nonprofit organizations, government agencies or universities responding to a community need with a program or project which focuses primarily on family/informal caregivers of adults with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias.

One award will be granted in each of three categories:

(1) Creative Expression,
(2) Policy and Advocacy and
(3) Diverse/Multicultural Communities.

The application deadline is 5 p.m. Pacific Time August 12, 2010.

To learn more about this award and to download an application, please go to http://caregiver.org/caregiver/jsp/content_node.jsp?nodeid=2188

Michelle Singletary - Reading up on elder care

A Book Review By Michelle Singletary in the Washington Post
 
WHEN THE TIME COMES - Families With Aging Parents Share Their Struggles And Solutions
By Paula Span, Springboard Press 

Span's book, published last year, isn't a how-to manual as much as it's a how-to-get-through-the-years of caring for an elderly relative. Span writes that her work is a "support group in print." The book tells the stories of about a dozen families faced with becoming caregivers.

"We talk sometimes about a role reversal, the children become the parents, but it's a flawed analogy," Span writes. "Our elders are not children; they don't have to do what we think best. There's no T-shirt that proclaims, 'Because I'm the Daughter, That's Why.' And this passage, unlike child-rearing, will not result in eventual independence."

"When the Time Comes" is a beautifully written, heartfelt narrative filled with facts and advice from experts but also moving stories of care-giving. Span stretches the stories over five chapters that cover the living choices for the elderly -- home care, shared household, assisted living, nursing homes and hospice.

Read Review



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Alzforum: Video Gallery

This video gallery provides a focus for the best videos on the Web about Alzheimer researchers and their work.

This collection of 18 short films brings you additional perspectives, and in-depth scientific discussion, of a broad range of topics in Alzheimer disease research beyond the material broadcast by the main Alzheimer's Project. In the HBO Alzforum films, some of the leading scientists in academia and drug development whose work you have come to know over the years speak directly to key issues in AD research today.
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2010 National Family Caregiving Awards Program Accepting Applications

The National Alliance for Caregiving and MetLife Foundation are pleased to announce that applications are being accepted for the 2010 National Family Caregiving Awards Program. The request for applications is available online at http://web.raffa.com/nac/caregiver_awards.

Now in its fifth and final year, the program is intended to improve the quality of life of family caregivers by recognizing and supporting the important work of community agencies and other organizations that support family caregivers as a significant part of their mission. Each award will carry a cash value of $20,000 that will be designated for use in the awardee’s caregiver program.

The Award Categories:

* Caregiver Education Awards: Three awards will be given in the category of caregiver education. These awards will go to organizations that have developed exemplary training programs to educate caregivers on topics such as: assisting with activities of daily living, financial planning, time management, and caring for older adults with dementia.

* Caregiver Support Awards: Four awards will be given in the category of caregiver support. These awards will go to organizations that provide family caregiver support programs such as respite, counseling, or corporate eldercare in a truly innovative way. * Older Caregivers Caring for Adult Children with Disabilities: Two awards will be given to non-profit organizations that have established an innovative and effective program to meet the needs of older persons caring for their adult children with disabilities. Potential programs could include counseling to plan for the future needs after the parent dies or innovative support programs to address the immediate needs of the older caregiver.

In addition, two special recognition awards will also be presented, to award recipients that have already met the other criteria in the award category in which they have applied. One is the Alzheimer’s Recognition Award, which will be given to one of the above award recipients that innovatively support family caregivers of those with Alzheimer’s disease. The other is a Cultural Diversity Recognition Award, which will be given to one of the above award recipients that innovatively support family caregivers of diverse older adults.

The awards will be presented at a luncheon ceremony held at the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging (n4a) 35th Annual Conference and Tradeshow, which will take place in St. Louis, Missouri on July 20. Travel and hotel costs for an awardee representative to attend this event will be paid for by the National Family Caregiving Awards program.

The deadline for applications is May 7, 2010. For additional information, contact Kathleen Cameron at kathleen56@caregiving.org.

AoA Announces Availability of Approximately $2.25 Million for Lifespan Respite Care Programs

The U.S. Administration on Aging is announcing the availability of approximately $2.25 million for implementation of the requirements of the Lifespan Respite Care Act of 2006. These projects will enable states to establish, enhance or expand Lifespan Respite Care systems, including new and planned emergency respite services, training and recruitment of respite workers and volunteers and assist caregivers with gaining access to needed respite services.

Under the 2010 "Lifespan Respite Care Program" announcement, AoA will award approximately ten to fifteen grants to states with federal funding up to $200,000 each for three-year project periods. AoA will fund projects that propose to serve all eligible respite recipients, including family members, foster parents, or other adults providing unpaid care to adults needing care to meet basic daily needs or prevent injury and to children who require care beyond that required to meet their basic needs. Over the course of these projects, states will work to expand and enhance respite care services to family members; improve the statewide dissemination and coordination of respite care; and provide, supplement, or improve access and quality of respite care services to family caregivers, thereby reducing family caregiver strain.

This is a limited grant competition. Awards will only be made to eligible state agencies who: administer the states program under the Older Americans Act of 1965; or administer title XIX of the social Security Act; or are designated by the Governor of the state to administer the State’s programs under this title who are an aging and disability resource center working in collaboration with a state respite coalition or organization, AND who are not currently funded under the Lifespan Respite Care Program.

The closing date for applications for this announcement is Monday, June 7, 2010. The deadline for submission of a letter of intent to apply for funding is Friday, May 7, 2010. Letters should be submitted by facsimile or e-mail to Greg Link at greg.link@aoa.hhs.gov or (202) 357-3558 (Fax). To learn more about this opportunity, please visit http://www.aoa.gov/AoARoot/Grants/Funding/index.aspx.

Caring for an aging parent? Need help with long term care?

eCare Diary is a website created based on the founder’s, John Mills, experience as a caregiver for his father who suffered from Parkinson’s Disease. Having spent over 20 years working in the health care system, John found coordinating long term care to be difficult because of the lack of good information.

eCare Diary provides comprehensive information, tools and resources to help those seeking and providing long term care. A unique feature is our Care Diary, a set of online tools designed to make coordination of care and sharing of information easy amongst family members and other caregivers. eCare Diary also has a comprehensive database of nursing home and home care services, guides on long term care financing and information on important health care documents everyone should have.
eCare Diary

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