Are you an unpaid caregiver of an older adult and/or a person with a disability?
Are you 55 or older and caring for a child who is a relative?
If you answer “yes” to one of these, then you’re eligible for respite care and assistance through our Family Caregiver Program. Caregiving for those in need can be rewarding, but it can also be a relentless, exhausting, 24/7 volunteer job.
We help people in Franklin County and the North Quabbin who are struggling with caregiving, not only because they are often caring for a loved one around the clock, but also because they are doing the work of at least 15 other hardworking people in order to do the huge job of caregiving.
The average caregiving individual is doing the daily work of a highly skilled team, meaning one person is doing the work of many persons. A single care recipient can easily require the services of the following: a care/case coordinator, medical advocate, financial advisor, chauffeur, cook, housekeeper, companion, home modification expert, personal organizer/property rehabilitator (a professional who sorts out disorganized, cluttered dwellings), personal care attendant, podiatrist, nutritionist, certified nursing aide, social secretary, accountant, and a health insurance specialist who is also a Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security expert.
Additionally, many of our caregivers also work full-time jobs and take care of children or grandchildren. Some caregivers may also take on the extra role of groundskeepers, tending to outdoor work and indoor heavy chores. Until they call LifePath.
We know that these are too many hats to wear even for a more fortunate caregiver who has a partner or family members to pitch in. It’s overwhelming.
LifePath’s Family Caregiver Program can help you find a highly skilled team so that you don’t have to do it all by yourself, by helping you find nursing homes, in-home care including foot care specialists, clinicians to help with hoarding and mental health issues, lawyers, public benefits including MassHealth, Fuel Assistance, and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), educational workshops, caregiver support groups, and more!
Caregivers have an acute need for respite and LifePath can provide some free time or resources to take the edge off providing continuous care. LifePath has Caregiver Respite Grant funding to provide goods and services to give you and/or your wallet some respite—a break from your hard work. So far this year, we gave exhausted caregivers respite grants in the form of supermarket gift cards, massage gift certificates, paying off a problematic utility bill, providing camp scholarships for kids’ and grandchildren’s activities and camps, paid stipends to cover the cost of in-home care recipient supervision, air conditioners, durable medical equipment not covered by insurance, and more.
Call LifePath at 413-773-5555 or email info@LifePathMA.org to access our Family Caregiver Program. Whether your loved one is home or transitioning from the hospital to home, we’ll help you create a customized care plan.
Kathleen Billus
