Following President Biden’s announcement calling on Congress to put $400 billion toward expanding access to quality, affordable home- or community-based care for aging relatives and people with disabilities, the House Democratic Caucus Task Force on Aging & Families (TFAF) leadership released the following statement:

“Quality, affordable health care should be accessible to every single American whether they’re able to travel to receive treatment or require care in their own homes,” said the House Democratic Caucus Task Force on Aging and Families. “There is a crisis in caregiving that has plagued seniors, families and health care workers alike for too long, since before the COVID-19 pandemic began. Too many families and caregivers – predominantly women – feel unseen as they struggle to provide for the health, safety and dignity of their loved ones. Today’s announcement is an acknowledgment that House Democrats and the Biden-Harris administration see you and that help is on the way.

“This investment of $400 billion into the care economy will make home care more affordable, accessible and dignified. It is particularly crucial for workers and families that President Biden has a plan to ensure that home health care providers have a pathway to good-paying jobs with union protections, as we know that when we support our caregivers and provide them with a better quality of life, the quality of care rises as well.

“This investment represents the beginning, not the end, of our collaboration with the Biden administration to support the workforce that empowers older Americans and people with disabilities to live in their own homes and communities.”

President Biden’s American Jobs Plan for improving the caregiving industry includes:

• $400 billion for expanding access to home and community-based services (HCBS).
• Extending the longstanding Money Follows the Person program that supports innovations in the delivery of long-term care.
• Supporting well-paying caregiving jobs that include benefits and the ability to collectively bargain.
• Building state infrastructure to improve the quality of services and to support workers.

Vice Chair Debbie Dingell (D-MI), Co-Chair Conor Lamb (D-PA) and Vice Chair Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) led a letter with 108 of their colleagues to President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris reiterating the importance of including home- and community-based services (HCBS) in the Build Back Better infrastructure package. A copy of the letter can be found here. The Task Force on Aging and Families has advocated for the importance of HCBS for families throughout the pandemic, including in its April 2020 principles for protecting the health and dignity of older Americans amid COVID-19.

A caregiver, sometimes referred to as a caretaker, refers to anyone who provides care for another person. Millions of people living in the United States take care of a friend or family member with Alzheimer’s disease or a related dementia. Sometimes caregivers live with the person or nearby, other times they live far away. For many families, caring for a person with dementia isn’t just one person’s job, but the role of many people who share tasks and responsibilities. No matter what kind of caregiver you are, taking care of another person can be overwhelming at times. These tips and suggestions may help with everyday care and tasks.

Early on in Alzheimer’s and related dementias, people experience changes in thinking, remembering, and reasoning in a way that affects daily life and activities. Eventually, people with these diseases will need more help with simple, everyday tasks. This may include bathing, grooming, and dressing. It may be upsetting to the person to need help with such personal activities. Here are a few tips to consider early on and as the disease progresses:

• Try to keep a routine, such as bathing, dressing, and eating at the same time each day.
• Help the person write down to-do lists, appointments, and events in a notebook or calendar.
• Plan activities that the person enjoys and try to do them at the same time each day.
• Consider a system or reminders for helping those who must take medications regularly.
• When dressing or bathing, allow the person to do as much as possible.
• Buy loose-fitting, comfortable, easy-to-use clothing, such as clothes with elastic waistbands, fabric fasteners, or large zipper pulls instead of shoelaces, buttons, or buckles.
• Use a sturdy shower chair to support a person who is unsteady and to prevent falls. You can buy shower chairs at drug stores and medical supply stores.
• Be gentle and respectful. Tell the person what you are going to do, step by step while you help them bathe or get dressed.
• Serve meals in a consistent, familiar place and give the person enough time to eat.

Communication can be hard for people with Alzheimer’s and related dementias because they have trouble remembering things. They also can become agitated and anxious, even angry. In some forms of dementia, language abilities are affected such that people have trouble finding the right words or have difficulty speaking. You may feel frustrated or impatient, but it is important to understand that the disease is causing the change in communication skills. To help make communication easier, you can:

• Reassure the person. Speak calmly. Listen to his or her concerns and frustrations. Try to show that you understand if the person is angry or fearful.
• Allow the person to keep as much control in his or her life as possible.
• Respect the person’s personal space.
• Build quiet times into the day, along with activities.
• Keep well-loved objects and photographs around the house to help the person feel more secure.
• Remind the person who you are if he or she doesn’t remember, but try not to say, “Don’t you remember?”
• Encourage a two-way conversation for as long as possible.
• Try distracting the person with an activity, such as a familiar book or photo album, if you are having trouble communicating with words.

Eating healthy and staying active is good for everyone and is especially important for people with Alzheimer’s and related dementias. As the disease progresses, finding ways for the person to eat healthy foods and stay active may be increasingly challenging. Here are some tips that may help:

by Jannette Jauregui

The term “food insecure” is not a familiar part of our culture’s vocabulary, but it is a regular part of the conversation at the Ventura County Area Agency on Aging (VCAAA).

The team of dietitians that are part of the VCAAA’s Senior Nutrition Program focused their time on developing class curriculum, recipes, and other resources for healthy eating on a budget long before the COVID-19 crisis began – all while recognizing that the populations served often face food insecurity, meaning they have limited or no access to regular meals, much less healthy meals.

With a special focus on the nutritional needs of older adults in particular, the team is dedicated to identifying gaps in daily intake and addressing those needs with resources made available through the various elements of the Senior Nutrition Program. Prior to COVID-19, home delivered meals were offered to older adults who are unable to leave their home, while congregate meal services were offered through 11 community meal sites throughout Ventura County with no cost requirement other than a suggested donation of $3 per meal. But the COVID-19 crisis exacerbated the gaps in services and resources for many communities throughout the country, with few populations hit harder than older adults.

The VCAAA immediately identified the fact that stay-at-home orders and restaurant closures meant the people who depended on VCAAA’s home delivered and congregate meal services, and even those who had never been part of the program, were going to need access to food more than ever before. As a result, the VCAAA expanded its existing pantry to include a much larger COVID-19 Food Pantry that brought two or more weeks-worth of food safely to the homes of some of Ventura County’s most vulnerable residents. Partnerships with dozens of locally owned restaurants and World Central Kitchen have offered daily deliveries of high-quality restaurant meals. In total, the VCAAA has served nearly 3.6 million meals since March 2020.

While the demand for food and meal resources increased, so did the need for the educational components of the Senior Nutrition Program. In response, the VCAAA transitioned the once in-person education-based nutrition classes and individualized counseling to the virtual platform via Zoom and telephone. Aimed at arming older adults with the information and resources needed to eat healthy on a budget, classes and individualized nutrition counseling focus on all topics of concern, including high blood pressure, increased cholesterol, diabetes, heart disease, and more. Recipes developed and shared by VCAAA dietitians are created with a fixed budget in mind, and are affordable to people of all income levels.

Classes currently offered each month include EatFresh.org and Eat Smart, Live Strong. There is also a “bonus” class offered monthly that focuses on a unique topic. For April, that class will focus on “How to Build a Healthy Plate.”

All classes and nutritional counseling are open to people 60 and older and are offered at no cost to participants. To learn more about current class offerings, visit www.vcaaa.org. For more information, or to register for a class, call (805) 477-7300 or e-mail [email protected].