California Partnership for Long Term Care

The Human Side of the Issue

First and foremost, long-term careCare given to someone who can no longer perform activities of daily living. is a very personal issue shaped as much by emotions, family dynamics and communications as it is by the fiscal concerns generally associated with these discussions. Following are some valuable article links about addressing those very real and human issues.

Sometimes it arrives as a midnight crisis; for others, caring for an ailing loved one has become part of the family fabric over time...

Gail Gibson Hunt, who directs the National Alliance for Caregiving(NAC) in Washington, D.C., admonishes that caregiving is not a pathology. Even though caregivers do experience stress levels higher than those in the general community; and even though they often report painful emotional, physical, social, and financial challenges, most still express great satisfaction in being called to care...

It may be the most frustrating concern among Baby Boomers today: how to get parents to talk about longterm care needs–before a crisis hits...

Many middle-aged and older women caregivers say they would take better care of themselves if only they had enough energy. Fatigue is a common complaint; it usually arises because caregivers are embarrassed or unwilling to ask for help. It also comes about because of a lack of awareness of the wealth of home-based elder care services that exist in every community...