Caregiver Support
ARCHANGELS
Do you provide unpaid care to a family member, friend, or neighbor who has an illness, disability, memory loss, or injury? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you are a caregiver! Are you feeling overwhelmed, constantly worried, tired, sad, easily irritated, and/or extremely stressed? You are not alone and there is support available. If you would like to learn more about resources, tools, and supports available for caregivers, please answer the following questions to get connected to the right starting place.
1. Are you over the age of 18 and caring for an older adult (age 60+)?
2. Are you over the age of 18 caring for an individual (any age) with Alzheimer’s
disease or a related disorder (e.g., dementia, traumatic brain injury, mild
cognitive impairment, chronic traumatic encephalopathy)?
3. Are you over the age of 55 and living with and caring for a child (not biological)
under the age of 18?
4. Are you over the age of 55 and living with and caring for an adult (can be a
biological child) aged 18-59 with a disability?
If you answered yes to any of the questions above, you are eligible for the National Family Caregiver Support Program (NFCSP). The goal of the NFCSP is to support family caregivers so they may continue to carry out their caregiving roles and responsibilities. The program can provide services such as caregiver counseling, information and assistance, caregiver training, respite care (a break from caregiving), and much more. If you would like to learn more about how this program can assist you, please contact the Office for the Aging at 315-785-3191.
If you answered no to all the questions above, or you are not interested in learning about the resources available through the NFCSP, there is still help available to you through the Any Care Counts - New York (ACC-NY) Campaign which recognizes and supports the millions of unpaid caregivers across the state! Through ACC-NY you can discover your caregiver intensity score by taking the ARCHANGELS Caregiver Intensity Index (CII). It takes just 2 minutes to complete. You will find out whether you are “in the red," "yellow" or "green," and be connected to trusted resources.
Do you prefer to search resources on your own? Visit the NY Connects Resource Directory. NY Connects links individuals of all ages and their caregivers to long term services and supports and provides one stop access to free, objective, comprehensive information and assistance.
Hello Public Health Community!
We are excited to announce new resources now available through the Public Health Center of Excellence on Dementia Caregiving!
A Guide on Advanced Care Planning Resources: For People Living with Dementia and Their Care Partners contains a range of tools, materials and information related to advanced care planning, including financial, housing, medical, legal, and palliative/hospice care assistance. It is the result of a comprehensive, environmental scan of available dementia-specific advanced care planning resources. This guide is intended to be used primarily by people living with dementia and their care partners. It should be used as a tool to help navigate and provide recommendations for effective care, services, and considerations at various stages of cognitive impairment and dementia.
Public health agencies may also use this guide to raise awareness about the importance of advanced care planning, and promote the use of best practices and tools in dementia care planning. They can distribute this guide to local community organizations, healthcare systems and aging services providers, and encourage them to further share it with community members living with dementia and the family caregivers they serve. In addition, public health departments can also make this toolkit available on their website and any online, public databases of ADRD-related resources and materials.
To view the guide, you can visit bit.ly/3sApb3x, view the attachment included in this email, or scan the QR code within the graphic.
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In addition, we wanted to promote the new toolkit, Public Health Strategies in Dementia Caregiving: A Toolkit for Public Health Agencies as well.
The purpose of this toolkit is to provide potential strategies and interventions that public health agencies can implement to support and elevate the work of family dementia caregivers in their jurisdictions, that are consistent with the Healthy Brain Initiative Road Map. This toolkit may be useful for all public health agencies as they set and pursue their dementia caregiving goals, but especially to public health departments that were awarded funding through the BOLD Infrastructure for Alzheimer’s Act as they implement their Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD) strategies using the Healthy Brain Initiative Road Map as a guide.
To view the toolkit, you can visit bit.ly/46r6nCp, view the attachment included in this email, or scan the QR code within the graphic.
New York Caregiving Portal Powered by Trualta
New York State Office for the Aging and Trualta have launched a Caregiving Portal. This platform is available to ALL caregivers in NYS, FREE to users to assist in supporting the more than 4 million caregivers in NYS of any age. With Trualta, organizations can scale their caregiver programs with expert-led training across critical care competencies for conditions like Alzheimer's, dementia, I/DD, diabetes, stroke, and more. Please use the link below to create and account and utilize this platform to enhance your knowledge.
https://newyork-caregivers.com/
Become a Respite Provider
Help families in needChoose your hours
Earn extra money
Change lives
Get free training on how to become a respite care provider! More info at :www.nyscrc.org/training
The free Respite Care Provider Training program will help you provide respite care as a job or volnteer activity.
Caregiver Support Services
Please click the link below to get a peek of what Respite Haven has to offer:
Caregiver Support Group
Jefferson County OFA is interested in starting a caregiver support group. We would like to have a monthly meeting with guest speakers who discuss topics of interest for caregivers. If you are interested we would like to know if you prefer to meet via zoom or in-person. Please contact 315-785-3191 if you would like to join.
Support Groups Can Help Caregivers
According to recent studies, there are an estimated 66 million caregivers in the United States who provide unpaid care to someone who is ill, disabled or aging. Close to 7 million provide care to an elderly loved one in need of assistance with daily living activities, like grooming or eating. Caregivers often report they are challenged by finding enough time to attend to their own needs, and consequently, their health, performance, family, social life and mental state begin to deteriorate.
Joining a caregiver support group can really help family caregivers as we cope with the stress of transitioning into the post-COVID world. The advantages of joining a caregiver support group include:
- A safe place for individuals to connect with people who have similar experiences and share common experiences.
- Receiving understanding and support that your own needs are important too.
- Forming friendships to help avoid isolation.
- Getting practical advice and information.
- Can help improve your overall mental health.
It is important to remember that the healthier you are, the better equipped you’ll be to help your loved one stay healthy.
For more information call 315-785-3191.
