AARP Bulletin Publishes PHI Commentary on Family Caregiving
The AARP Bulletin published a commentary in its December issue by Dorie Seavey, PHI director of policy research, on the need to invest in a stable, skilled direct-care workforce to meet the rapidly increasing demand for long-term services and supports due to our nation’s burgeoning elder population.
In “Now Is the Time to Boost Support for Paid Caregivers,” Seavey, a labor economist and advocate for the direct-care workforce, shares her own experience of moving across the country and reducing her work hours to become a family caregiver to her elderly father and help run the family business.
“This new chapter of my life is actually the ‘new normal,'” Seavey writes, adding that millions of men and women at midlife are also taking on family caregiver roles.
Mr. Seavey needs more assistance to live independently in his home than Dorie and her brothers can provide, so the family turns to three “extraordinary” paid caregivers to supplement their care.
“My new caregiver role makes me more passionate about raising the floor for this workforce,” Seavey writes. “We must all speak out about the need for better direct-care jobs, more support for caregivers, and the importance of investing in a 21st-century caregiving infrastructure.”
Seavey was invited by AARP to submit her “In the Know: Opinion” in response to the recent AARP Public Policy Institute study that found the “supply of family caregivers is unlikely to keep pace with future demand.”
— by Deane Beebe
