The Price We Pay for The Wrong Focus

We invested in caregiving research rather than in truly helping family caregivers.

Kara Ward, who recorded the video below, is like other family caregivers. She did everything right — she asked for help, she actively sought out the services that her grandmother needs, she alerted health care professionals with concerns. And, yet, the systems failed her and her grandmother.

It’s the story millions of other family caregivers can tell.

There’s not enough help, there aren’t enough services and there isn’t enough time. We are failing family caregivers.

When I reflect on what caused this failure, I think of the money spent on caregiving research. We continue to fund research about the caregiving experience, which I believe has yet to improve a family caregiver’s experience. We prioritized caregiving research over caregiving services, programs and support.

Imagine if we had invested that caregiving research money in family caregivers instead. Imagine if we had created a flexible respite program that awarded grants to family caregivers to create the respite program that works for them. Imagine if we had created a family caregiver stress tracking system so we could deploy resources, support and help into communities where the caregiving stress skyrockets. (I’ll write more next week about this idea I first suggested in 2015.)

We can make better decision about how to use existing funds. Join me in working to create a better caregiving experience. Sign the Campaign to ACT petition.

(Image by TheDigitalWay from Pixabay)

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