Granting Relief to Caregivers: Hospice of the Valley wins Grant Money

By Kent Berk on August 6th, 2014 in ARIZONA, Elder Law

AZ Dementia caregivers As elder law attorneys, the staff and lawyers of Berk Law Group, P.C. understand the toll that caregivers may experience taking care of patients with dementia or Alzheimer’s. Many caregivers are willing family members with no formal training or medical backgrounds. Often, when a family member does have medical experience they are expected to drop paying work in order to remain actively participating in the care of an elderly, chronically ill, or otherwise vulnerable adult.

Caregivers who are able to stay at home with the patient provide a special kind of care, especially when the patient suffers from dementia. According to the Alzheimer’s Association, the impact that caring for someone with dementia has on caregivers heavily affects the caregiver in many areas, including finances, emotional resilience, and overall well-being. “Due to the physical and emotional burden of caregiving, Alzheimer’s and dementia caregivers had $9.3 billion in additional health care costs of their own in 2013. Nearly 60 percent of Alzheimer’s and dementia caregivers rate the emotional stress of caregiving as high or very high, and more than one-third report symptoms of depression.”

For these reasons, the announcement that Hospice of the Valley located in Phoenix was recently awarded a $110,000 grant to assist caregivers was very welcome news.

This article explains more about how the grant will be applied at Hospice of the Valley’s Palliative Care department. The “Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction” study is aimed at “support(ing) the caregiver so the person with dementia can stay as long as possible at home — an environment that is far more therapeutic and less costly than a nursing facility or hospital.”

Awarding this size of a grant to improving the quality of life for caregivers will hopefully allow those caring for our elders to continue providing the best possible care. The aging population continues to grow, and as such, will continue to need stable caregivers. Finding out how to reduce stress and anxiety can only translate to a healthier aging process, something that the elder law community supports wholeheartedly.

If you are a caregiver experiencing substantial stress and anxiety in your role, please reach out for the support you need. The Area Agency on Aging provides a list of locations throughout the state where support groups meet.