North Lindon Caregiver Receives "Portrait of Care"

November marks National Family Caregivers Month, a time to recognize the more than 336,000 family caregivers in Utah who help older parents, spouses, and other loved ones live independently at home, where they want to be.  The unpaid care they provide through managing medications, cooking meals, driving to appointments, performing complex medicals tasks and more is valued at $4.15 billion in Utah alone.

Nancy Madsen-Wilkerson from North Lindon is one of these unsung heroes.  For 20 years, Nancy, age 62, cared for her mother, Elinor, who was neurologically impaired from a car accident and also suffered from skeletal and muscular decay.  At the same time, she work full time, raised four daughters and care for a husband who was terminally ill.  After her husband and her mother died, Nancy went back to school and now works for the Utah Division of Aging and Adult Services, helping other family caregivers. Of her caregiving experience she says, “Through all the ups and downs, I count it as one of my greatest privileges to have been called her daughter and caregiver.”

AARP Utah recognized Nancy with a Portrait of Care, an artist’s painting of her with Elinor, at the Ogden Interfaith Works Council Caregiving and Resource Conference on November 14 where she was a keynote speaker. Randomly selected through AARP’s storytelling initiative, I Heart Caregivers, Nancy is one of 53 family caregivers from every state, Washington D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands receiving a hand-painted portrait. Thousands have shared their stories on the site.

“We want to celebrate family caregivers, spotlight their experiences of hope, love, dedication and perseverance, and elevate their stories – especially during National Family Caregivers Month,” said Alan Ormsby, State Director of AARP Utah, which serves 207,000 Utahns age 50 and older. “This is especially important as we work to support family caregivers through public policy, education, outreach and more.”

Supporting Family Caregivers

“Family caregivers are the backbone of our care system, serving a crucial role in helping older Utahns and other loved ones remain in their own homes and communities,” Ormsby continued. “That’s why AARP is fighting for commonsense solutions to help make their big responsibilities a little bit easier,” like working with to improve training family caregivers receive when their loved one leaves the hospital, increasing funding for critical state programs that support family caregivers, and working to allow nurses to delegate some of their responsibilities to other health care workers to lessen the burden on caregivers.

 As the 2016 state legislative session approaches, AARP Utah is gearing up to help family caregivers navigate financial challenges by urging Utah to adopt the Uniform Power of Attorney Act, which contains 21 provisions that protect against abuse and promote choice.

Spotlight: Family Caregivers in Utah

Earlier this year, AARP conducted a statewide survey of registered voters age 45 and older in Utah to learn about their experiences, challenges and needs as family caregivers, and attitudes toward public policy that would support family caregivers.  The survey found that most respondents have experience as family caregivers (54%) or believe they are likely to be caregivers in the future (57%).

The typical family caregiver in Utah is a woman, over 55 years old, who cares for someone 76 years old and works full or part-time too.

• Both current and former caregivers have provided care in a myriad of ways: 88% help with shopping, 85% provide transportation to appointments, 86% help with household chores, 65% oversee medication, and 63% manage medical tasks.
• 88% support allowing registered nurses to delegate some of their responsibilities to other health care workers as long as they are trained to do so.
• 88% say it is important to be able to provide care so their loved ones can keep living independently at home.

 

AARP is dedicated to supporting family caregivers so they can safely care for their older loved ones at home—keeping them out of nursing homes and preventing unnecessary hospitalizations.