Home & Family

AARP and a team of supporters spent January 27, 2016 at Legislative Hall in Dover advocating for better support for caregivers. The group met with legislators including CARE Act sponsors Senator Bethany Hall-Long and House Majority Leader Valerie Longhurst. The group provided valuable information on the CARE Act, which will help make it possible for older Delawareans and other loved ones to live at home and in their own communities – which is where they want to be.

AARP recognizes the unpaid family caregivers who help their loved ones remain in their own homes and communities. There are more than 120,000 in Delaware – who help older parents, spouses, and other loved ones live independently at home, where they want to be. The unpaid care they provide – managing medications, cooking meals, driving to appointments, performing complex medical tasks and more – is valued at about $1.58 billion in Delaware alone.

Family caregivers in Delaware provided 114 million hours of care—worth an estimated $1,580 million —to their parents, spouses, partners, and other adult loved ones in 2013, according to AARP Public Policy Institute’s new report, Valuing the Invaluable: 2015 Update. The total estimated economic value of uncompensated care provided by the nation’s family caregivers surpassed total Medicaid spending ($449 billion), and nearly equaled the annual sales ($469 billion) of the four largest U.S. tech companies combined (Apple, Hewlett Packard, IBM, and Microsoft) in 2013.

The Caregiving Task Force, which was formed with the passage of AARP Model Resolution 57 during the 2014 legislative session, met its deadline and delivered its recommendations to Governor Markell and the House and Senate on May 29, 2015. Former State President and Caregiving volunteer Jeanne Nutter, Ph.D., served as co-chair on the task force to help drive the agenda and ensure better resources and policies for family caregivers. The task force spent many months assessing family caregiving in Delaware to develop a list of needs that will benefit consumers and employers alike.

If you are a Delaware caregiver, the Family Caregiving Task Force wants to hear from you.

When Stormy, age 8, was in kindergarten, her teachers started sending her home from school frequently for vomiting and losing her balance. After a couple doctor visits, the family was told to wait and see what happens. When her situation didn’t improve, her great-grandparents took the lead and arranged for a doctor visit at a local Children’s Hospital. Soon afterwards, Stormy was diagnosed with an amelablastoma, or brain tumor. She’d had it for 6 months.

When Stormy, age 8, was in kindergarten, her teachers started sending her home from school frequently for vomiting and losing her balance. After a couple doctor visits, the family was told to wait and see what happens. When her situation didn’t improve, her great-grandparents took the lead and arranged for a doctor visit at a local Children’s Hospital. Soon afterwards, Stormy was diagnosed with an amelablastoma, or brain tumor. She’d had it for 6 months.

by Myrle Bowe, AARP Volunteer

Would you be ready for an emergency? A recent survey conducted by the Federal Emergency Management Agency found that nearly 70 percent of Americans have not participated in a preparedness drill or exercise, aside from a fire drill, at their workplace, school or home in the past two years.

Delaware ranks 29th when it comes to meeting the long-term care needs of older residents, but AARP cautions more must be done, at an accelerated pace, to improve an individual’s choice of setting where they receive long term care. Delaware ranked toward the bottom in this area. Delaware also ranks in the bottom for Medicaid spending for community care. Despite increased Medicaid support for in-home care, Delaware still ranks 48th among all states. These findings are from a new, comprehensive state-by-state Scorecard from AARP with support of the nation’s leading organizations behind quality long-term care, The Commonwealth Fund and SCAN Foundation.