AARP Eye Center
(Midvale, UT) To recognize their work to support family caregivers in Utah, AARP named Representative Rebecca Chavez-Houck and Senator Brian Shiozawa as 2014 “Capitol Caregivers,” a bipartisan group of 46 state legislators and 3 governors from 19 states. These elected officials have advanced policies to help family caregivers who are making it possible for older Utahns to live independently at home—where they want to be. Representative Chavez-Houck and Senator Shiozawa will be formally recognized for this honor today at the meeting of the Utah Coalition for Caregiving Support at the Department of Human Services.
“AARP thanks Senator Shiozawa and Representative Chavez-Houck for championing House Joint Resolution (HJR) 14 This joint resolution of the Legislature expresses support for the efforts of Utah's family caregivers,” says Alan Ormsby, State Director of AARP Utah, which serves more than 212,000 members age 50 and older in the state. “They provided integral leadership to pass HJR 14 that will lay the groundwork for policies that support caregiving in 2015.”
The resolution expresses support for the dedicated work of family caregivers statewide; recognizes caregiving for older, vulnerable adults as a vital and needed profession today and in the future;expresses support for innovative and creative means to support family caregivers to continue providing needed in-home support for older, vulnerable, or adults with a disability; andexpresses support for state policies and programs that address the needs of older, vulnerable, or adults with a disability, and their caregivers.
More than 382,000 Utahns provide unpaid care for their older loved ones as family caregivers—valued at about $4.2 billion annually. They help with bathing and dressing, meal preparation, managing finances, transportation, grocery shopping and more. Today, family caregivers also perform medical tasks like wound care, injections, and complex medication management.
“Family caregiving is one of these rare issues that crosses geographic and political lines, says Ormsby. “This isn’t a Democratic issue. It’s not a Republican issue. It’s a family issue.”
“HJR 14is just a first step to providing a little bit of help for family caregivers,” says AARP Utah Advocacy Director Danny Harris. “AARP will continue to fight for Utah’s family caregivers and their loved ones in 2015: more support, help at home, workplace flexibility, training and more delegation of duties to ease the burden of caregiving for these unsung heroes.”
To also recognize America’s silent army of family caregivers, AARP recently launched a new initiative, “I Heart Caregivers,” to spotlight the stories of these unsung heroes, and the great labor of love they perform every day. Visit aarp.org/iheartcaregivers.
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