By Patricia Breakey
People who help care for relatives and friends enable senior citizens to maintain their independence and stay in their homes while providing assistance that saves billions of dollars each year, according to reports issued by the state Office for the Aging.
"With the month of November being Family Caregivers Month, it is an opportune time to thank the thousands of unpaid caregivers across the state for providing care to family members, friends, neighbors and other loved ones, who might otherwise not be able to remain in their homes if not for the care and assistance provided by these caregivers," Michael Burgess, state Office for the Aging director, said in a media release.
"What caregivers do is incredibly important," Francis Wright, Otsego County Office for the Aging director, said Friday.
Laura Stewart, Delaware County Long Term Care coordinator, said there is no way to know how many people are caregivers.
"A lot of people who do it don't even consider themselves caregivers," Stewart said. "They just do it without thinking about it."
"The informal caregivers' value to their loved ones, their communities and the state is unmistakable," Burgess said in the release. "It is vitally important that we do all we can to support these unpaid caregivers in communities across the state so that they can continue to care for their loved ones."
More than half of the caregivers surveyed by the state agency reported that people they care for would not be able to continue to live in the same home if services by local offices for the aging had not been provided, according to one report developed by the state OFA.
"We work to be supportive of caregivers by offering different services," Stewart said. "But this county is desperate for respite care for caregivers who often need a break."
Wright said people older than 60 are eligible for aging funded services. The 2000 census listed 11,859 people older than 60 in Otsego County, and the aging population is increasing, she said.
"Delaware and Otsego counties are not atypical," Wright said. "Things in this area are very similar to the rest of the state."
Thirty-eight percent of the caregivers surveyed statewide reported that, without caregiver support, their care receivers would end up in nursing homes or assisted-living facilities.
Caregivers participating in state caregiver support programs report spending an average of 62.6 hours a week providing care. This is considerably higher than the national average of 21 hours estimated in a 2008 AARP report.
Informal caregivers are the bedrock of community care, providing 75 to 80 percent of the daily assistance needed by frail senior citizens. In New York, this care has been valued at more than $25 billion each year by AARP.
A typical caregiver in New York is a 64-year-old female who has either a high school or some college education, spends more than 20 hours a week providing care to her mother and spends an average of 5.7 years providing care to care recipients.
"You want to give back to your parents because they did everything for you," Stewart said.
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Patricia Breakey can be reached at 746-2894 or at stardelhi@stny.rr.com.
