17th Annual Caregiver Conference Tackles Growing Need

From the April 1 edition of the Palo Alto Weekly, page 32.

PBS and KQED veteran Dave Iverson will headline Avenidas’ 17th Annual Caregiver Conference on Saturday, April 30, at the Mountain View Senior Center. Iverson will discuss his book, “Winter Stars: An Elderly Mother, an Aging Son and Life’s Final Journey.” Breakout sessions at the daylong conference will cover a range of topics of interest to caregivers, including caregiver stress and depression, safety, medical, legal and financial considerations for caregivers and caregiver support groups.

The feature also notes that, facing a shortage of caregivers, the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors last week voted to conduct a study of the caregiving needs of older adults and the county’s capacity to provide for them. The study will assess who needs care, what services are needed and who currently provides them. The county projects that adults 65 and older will comprise 20% of the population by 2030. “This is an opportunity for the county and its partners to be proactive, to get ahead of the problem before our system is overwhelmed,” Supervisor Joe Simitian of Palo Alto said.

Meanwhile, the American Health Care Association and the National Center for Assisted Living released a report highlighting a financial crisis among the nation’s long-term care providers, saying that up to 40% of residents currently live in facilities projected to be financially “at risk.” According to the report: “Without support from federal and state lawmakers as well as the public health sector, more nursing homes will close and meaningful reform of the industry will not be possible.”