subject: Homecare, Financial Stress, and Families [print this page] Homecare, Financial Stress, and Families Homecare, Financial Stress, and Families
Many articles have been written about the stress primary caregivers encounter when taking on the responsibility of providing homecare for a loved one. Much less attention, however, is paid to the stress that families as a whole encounter when one of its loved ones needs homecare. One specific contributor to stress is the financial burden that homecare can bring.
Indeed, money is one of the main points of stress for caregivers and their families. Working as a caregiver, instead of sending a loved one to a nursing home or assisted-care facility, may seem like a cost-saving choice, but it is important to remember how financially stressful caregiving can be.
The responsibility of an in home caregiver is usually full-time or overtime (up to and sometimes exceeding 80 hours of work each week, depending on the situation), meaning that the majority of caregivers are not able to keep their jobs outside of the home, even if the job is only part-time. This labor, given for free, by family caregivers is estimated to be valued at an astounding $375 billion annually, with possible wages lost for the individual caregiver over time in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
This financial burden, of having a member of the family in need of homecare and unable to work, and also having a full-time family member serving as caregiver for that member - also unable to work - can mean serious stress for individual family members and the family as a whole.
It's important to remember that there are sources of financial help outside of the family that can take the pressure off of caregivers and their families. Medicare and Medicaid can help pay for in homecare services, which will directly help the family member in need of homecare. For financial and material help for the primary caregiver, the National Family Caregiver Support Program can provide service, training, and counseling resources in addition to information about organizations and support groups.
Family members should alert primary caregivers to these resources and help them see if they are eligible for these services, which can help ease some of the financial burden prevalent in homecare situations. Additionally, and this is a common piece of advice in articles about caregiver stress, it's extremely important that family members sit down with each other and either talk about or write down sources of financial stress and what can be done collectively to ease this stress. Being clearly aware of potential financial issues, and exploring possible solutions both from within and outside the family, will make financial burdens become more manageable.
