Kathy Greenlee

Only three weeks into her tenure as HHS Assistant Secretary of Aging, Kathy Greenlee delivered the keynote address (doc) at this year’s annual conference of the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging (n4a) and used the opportunity to underscore the importance of home-based health care, including the caregivers who make it possible.

Greenlee told the audience at the July 22 conference in Minneapolis that “supporting caregivers will be one of my highest priorities, and something that I will dedicate myself to as I serve as your Assistant Secretary.”

She also said that federal and state agencies need to shift their funding to provide more programs and supports for home-based care and at-home caregivers, and that nursing homes need to expand in this direction as well (“Assistant secretary on aging says more home-based services needed,” AARP Bulletin Today, July 22, reprinted from St. Paul Pioneer Press).

Regarding support for caregivers, she said funding must be flexible to support both paid professionals and family members who provide care. “They’re essential if we’re going to be successful in community living,” she said. “There’s not a way to design a system without caregivers being one of the fundamental components.”

“PHI is encouraged by Assistant Secretary Greenlee’s focus on home-based care and on the direct-care workers who provide those essential services,” said PHI President Steven Dawson. “We welcome her leadership within the Administration in fostering federal investment to recruit, train and retain the direct-care workforce we need to support community living for elders and people with disabilities.”