Family Caregiver Programs

This program supports individuals caring for seniors and also seniors caring for grandchildren.  Caregivers who perceive themselves as possessing the needed skills to care for a loved one and having a support system are less likely to feel overburdened and thus be able to care for their loved one for a longer period of time.

Caregivers may be spouses, family, friends or neighbors who provide some help to an elderly person who wants to stay at home.  The Family Caregiver Support Program can help by connecting them to existing resources or can give them financial help (within limits).  Typical services paid for by FCSP include Respite (sitter), Homemaking, Personal Care, Home Delivered Meals, Ramps and other Home Modifications, and some one time expenses.  There are no income qualifications but there are age (60+) and disability qualifications.  There are also two programs to help grandparents or other relatives raising grandchildren.

If you are interested in knowing more about possible services, fill out this form and someone will contact you.

Bruce Carver is the Family Caregiver Coordinator at the Pennyrile Area Development District.

Families, not social service agencies, nursing homes or government programs, are the mainstay underpinning long term care (LTC) for older persons in the United States.  According to the most recent National Long Term Care Survey, more than seven million persons are informal caregivers – providing unpaid help to older persons who live in the community and have at least one limitation on their activities of daily living. These caregivers include spouses, adult children, and other relatives and friends.

The degree of caregiver involvement has remained fairly constant for more than a decade, bearing witness to the remarkable resilience of the American family in taking care of its older persons.  This is despite increased geographic separation, greater numbers of women in the workforce, and other changes in family life.  Thus, family caregiving has been a blessing in many respects.  It has been a budget-saver to governments faced annually with the challenge of covering the health and long term care expenses of persons who are ill and have chronic disabilities.  If the work of caregivers had to be replaced by paid home care staff, the estimated cost would be $45-90 billion per year.

A tremendous amount of information is available at the US Administration on Aging's website.