As a prelude to Veterans Day, the National Alliance for Caregiving released a new report on the results of their research on family caregivers of veterans at a briefing on Capitol Hill on November 10.
Caregivers of Veterans — Serving on the Homefront (pdf) states that 96 percent of family caregivers of veterans are female, compared to 65 percent of family caregivers overall. They experience high levels of emotional stress and physical strain — two to three times the levels of stress and strain for family caregivers of adults overall.
At the same time, 94 percent of family caregivers of veterans feel proud of the support they provide, and 78 percent feel a sense of reward from having gained knowledge and skills through caregiving. Thirty percent have been caregivers for 10 years or more; among all family caregivers just 15 percent have been providing care for that length of time.
The family caregivers surveyed for the study are unpaid.
“Although, of course, these family caregivers have the additional emotional trauma of the injury or incapacitation of a person they love, I was struck by the similarity between some of the challenges faced by this group of family caregivers and those experienced by paid direct-care workers,” said Gail MacInnes, PHI’s national policy analyst, who attended the briefing.
“Both paid and unpaid caregivers experience high levels of emotional and physical stress and feelings of pride in the care they provide,” MacInnes said.
Family Caregivers to be Compensated
With the passage in May of the Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act of 2010 (S. 1963), the primary family caregivers of veterans of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq will be compensated for the care they provide.
The law provides for the primary family caregiver to receive mental health services, training in personal care services, lodging and subsistence payments when accompanying the veteran on medical care visits, health care coverage, respite care, and a monthly stipend comparable to that provided to paid direct-care workers in the local geographic area.
The caregiver assistance provisions become effective nine months after enactment.
– by the PHI Policy Team
