Which LTC Support Policies are Best for Caregivers?
Speakers: Marc Cohen and Claire Wickersham
Topic:
Family caregivers are a critical component of the long term care delivery system for older adults. While caregiving is often motivated by love and family commitment, it comes with challenges to the financial, emotional, and physical health to the caregiver. Several policy proposals have been identified that could address these challenges, most notably the financial strain that family caregivers encounter. This session reports on findings from a mixed-method research study to identify the perceived and actual impact of various policy options. The qualitative portion reports on findings from focus groups with caregivers to identify the policies they believe would best address their financial well-being. These findings are supplemented with data analysis from national surveys to examine which types of caregivers could benefit from certain policies. The data are also used to ascribe financial outcomes to the policy preferences identified in the focus groups, to see how these line up with caregiver preferences.
About the Speakers:
Marc A. Cohen, PhD
Marc is co-director of the LeadingAge LTSS Center @UMass Boston and a professor of gerontology at the University of Massachusetts Boston and research director at Community Catalyst. Prior to joining UMass Boston, he was chief research and development officer, former president, and co-founder of LifePlans, Inc., a long-term care research and risk-management company. During his 30-year career, Cohen led major research studies related to issues affecting financing and delivery of long-term services and supports, led a national demonstration of a new falls-prevention program sponsored by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and worked with managed care plans implementing new models of care designed to reduce hospital readmissions. Cohen received an MA from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, and a PhD from the Heller School at Brandeis University.
Claire Wickersham, PhD
Claire is a senior research associate at the LeadingAge LTSS Center @UMass Boston. She holds a doctorate in gerontology from UMass Boston, a master’s in gerontological studies from Miami University in Oxford, OH, and a bachelor of science in speech and hearing science from the State University of New York at Cortland. Wickersham’s expertise spans home and community-based services, aging in place and community, age- and dementia-friendly initiatives, lifelong learning, and caregiving. Her recent work focuses on person-centered care, the financial impacts of family caregiving, and policy solutions to reduce family caregivers’ financial vulnerability in retirement.
Accessing the Meeting:
REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED. Here is the Zoom registration link:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/_z380vfeSNS9j07J86htDg#/registration
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Meeting materials will also be posted once available on the Long Term Care Discussion Group website: http://www.ltcdiscussiongroup.org on the PRESENTATION MATERIALS page.