There is one person in the health care system who plays an important role in providing care but whose needs are often overlooked – the family caregiver. Family caregivers provide unpaid care to loved ones often at great personal cost.
The challenges facing the family caregiver and the recognizing their needs are the focus of a day-long summit, “Family Caregiving: Name It; Know Its Many Faces,” sponsored by EmblemHealth’s NYC Partnership for Family Caregiving Corps and the Fordham University Graduate School of Social Service: Be the Evidence Project, on Wednesday, April 30, 2014 at the New York Academy of Medicine.
Nationally recognized experts will discuss ways to support family caregivers, including Carol Levine, Director, Families and Health Care Project, United Hospital Fund, and Rev. Eric J. Hall, President and CEO, HealthCare Chaplaincy Network.The summit is open to medical professionals, social workers, clergy, family caregivers, students, city agencies and the general public, to explore the many roles family caregivers play within the health care system and identify solutions to common challenges they face.
With an aging population, shorter hospital stays and medical advances that keep people alive longer and technology that allows people who are ill to stay at home, the importance of family caregivers—and the demands placed on them—will only increase. For the family caregiver, the costs take a financial, physical, spiritual and emotional toll. For businesses, costs come in the form of lost productivity, absenteeism, increased heath care costs and more.
“EmblemHealth is very proud to present this event with the Fordham University Graduate School of Social Services and collaborate with the New York Academy of Medicine,” said Gregory Johnson, director of EmblemHealth’s Care for the Family Caregiver initiative. “There are close to 66 million family caregivers around the United States who provide an estimated $450 billion in unpaid services. Close to 20 million of these family caregivers— six times the number of nurses in the entire country—perform nursing tasks. We are excited to bring people together from around the country to discuss the common challenges and obstacles facing family caregivers, and discuss possible solutions to offer support and to keep them from becoming cared for themselves.”
To learn more, visit http://www.emblemhealth.com/careforthefamilycaregiver.
Photo credit: Gregory Johnson, director of EmblemHealth’s Care for the Family Caregiver initiative.
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