By Richard Chevrefils
Chair, NHAHA Steering Committee
By some estimates, about 168,000 residents-perhaps your friends or neighbors-serve as a volunteer caregiver for an older adult. From helping with household chores, to rides to medical or dental appointments, to assisting in activities of daily living such as bathing and dressing, these volunteers are critical in helping older adults be independent and live at home as long as possible.
Beyond the intrinsic value they provide, caregivers provide more than $2 billion dollars in unpaid services each year. They are literally the backbone of NH’s long-term care system.
Talk to a caregiver and you will learn about the broad range of emotions and feelings that come with the “job” of caring for a family member or friend. While it can carry many rewards, there are also myriad challenges and for the majority, it is very much on the job training. And then there is the toll caregiving can take on the individual. Just as burnout can occur in the professional world, caregiver burnout can be a real concern when taking care of a loved one. Caregivers often experience physical and emotional fatigue, as well as depression. Particularly impacted is the commonly referred to “sandwich generation”-those who are caring for their children and parents at the same time. Some lament that while they greatly value what they can do for older adults, they feel guilt or regret that they cannot do more.
It is against that backdrop that the New Hampshire Alliance For Health Aging (NHAHA)has developed a work group dedicated to supporting, educating, and empowering volunteer caregiving.
To enhance support for family caregivers, NHAHA launched the Caregiving Workgroup in 2016. The work group prioritizes three strategy areas:
Strategy 1: Increase caregiver self-identification and awareness:
Promoting caregiver self-identification through the development and distribution of awareness material that makes the connection between caregiving tasks and the role of caregiving. The material also provides an 800 number for the states aging and disability resource center. The workgroup is working to disseminate the flyer through partnering with various organizations across the state.
Strategy 2: Increase caregiver friendly workplaces in NH:
Providing education and awareness to employers on the benefits of developing caregiver friendly employment practices and sharing resources for both small and large businesses for developing these practices. To date, the workgroup has hosted numerous outreach events including a Forum on the Future meeting and an online seminar called Caregiving Friendly Business Practices that targeted Human Resource Professionals.
Strategy 3: Act as a convenor on caregiving issues:
In conjunction with the above two strategies, the workgroup has hosted multiple convenings on the issue of caregiving. The workgroup regularly convenes service providers to share information and resources about the work each organization is conducting, to reduce duplication of efforts, identify gaps in services, and align current work.
As some caregivers will share, the role is one that “chooses you, rather than you choose it.” The cost of professional caregiving, as well as the well-documented workforce scarcity, are certainly contributing factors in the growth in numbers of volunteer caregivers. Given New Hampshire’s demographic as an older state and the fact that people are living longer, it stands to reason that the need for, and numbers of, volunteer caregivers will only increase in the future. We cannot thank and celebrate volunteer caregivers enough and going forward, it is essential that the “greater we” provide support, education, and resources for these amazing people.
Richard “Dick” Chevrefils serves as Chair of the NHAHA Steering Committee and is part of the NHAHA Caregiver Work Group. Now retired with a background in social work, Dick worked with the Department of Health and Human Services (NH) for 35 years, as well as 9 years with AARP in both New Hampshire and Pennsylvania.
Dick has a strong background in volunteering as well and actively works with AARP (NH), National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI NH), Adoptive Families for Children Foundation, and serves on the advisory board to the Center for Aging and Community Living.