PROVIDENCE – The economic value of caring for an adult family member, partner or friend who suffered with chronic conditions or disabilities in Rhode Island reached an estimated $1.88 billion in 2009, according to the AARP’s Public Policy Institute.
On the national level, the figure was $450 billion, rising from the estimated $375 billion in 2007.
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The report, “Valuing the Invaluable: The Growing Contributions and Costs of Family Caregiving, 2011,” found that an estimated 217,000 Rhode Island residents provided such care in 2009.
In additional, the report said the typical caregiver is a 49-year old woman who works outside of the home and spends nearly 20 hours per week providing unpaid care to her mother over the course of nearly five years. Almost two-thirds of family caregivers are women and more than eight in 10 are caring for a relative or friend age 50 or older.
“The value of the care provided for a loved one in Rhode Island is something we all should appreciate, but for those who receive the care, it’s invaluable,” said Kathleen Connell, state director of the R.I. AARP. “They don’t think of themselves as caregivers. But the meals fixed for Mom and Dad, the help with visits to the doctor – that help and other long-term care assistance would cost $1.8 billion in Rhode Island alone if someone had to be hired to do it.”
The value of the care provided in Rhode Island roughly equals the state’s entire Medicaid budget, according to Connell. It is 3.3 times the amount the state spends for long-term care services under Medicaid and seven times what Medicaid pays in home and community based services.
The report also found that the care provided continues to increase in complexity. The impact of shorter hospital stays and advances in home-based medical technologies plays out in the health tasks that family caregivers often carry out, including bandaging and wound care, tube feedings, managing catheters, giving injections or operating medical equipment.
“The overwhelming majority of Rhode Islanders want to remain in their own homes and communities for as long as possible,” Connell said. “Family care-giving is a key to making that possible.”
The full report is available here.
Many family caregivers are trained by professional caregivers while the patient is on the professional caregiver’s service. Similarly, family caregivers receive training to use home medical equipment from equipment providers. Reduced reimbursement and an increase in mandates could compromise access to the services that are essential to the family caregiver, and produce the unintended consequence of expensive, institutional care. Those who are responsible for reimbursement decisions should recognize the excellent investment that home health care represents, and assure adequate funding.
I cared for parents and others for the past 10 years. It is truly a labor of love. Nights, weekends, holidays…..but when the end comes, and you are able to care for your beloved parent and/or spouse, it is a job well done. I am blessed that I was able to do all this, but at the time, I worried I would not be able to “keep it up”.