Elder Care Co-op
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The article "Elder Care Co-op" talks about family, it has been created by Barbara Mascio.
Could an elder-care-co-op work for family caregivers? It's an
idea that's worked for years in small communities across the
United States with cihldcare.
Thirty years ago, three of my friends, all stay-at-home moms,
got together and worked out a system that worked very well.
One
day a week, each of us took our kids to our friends’ home
for a ‘play date.’
It allowed each of us to take one full day to shop, go to
doctors’ appointments, get our hair done, all without our
darling kids in tow and all without spendnig money we didn’t
have on child care. Sometimes, we didn’t run errands; we simply
spent the time alone, soaking in the ‘quiet’.
The amount of family caregivres across the United States that
could do something like this is mind-blowing. In fact,
statistics most readily quoted are that on any given day, fifty
million families are caring for a loved one.
Most family members readily jump in to help a loved one and will
put their own lives on hold.
Only 46 percent expect to be
caregivers longer than two years. In fact the average length of
time spent on careigving is about eight years, with
approximately one third of respondents providing care for 10
years or more. (Source: MetLife Juggling Act Study, Balancing
Caregiving with Work and the Costs of Caregiving, Met Life
Mature Market Institute, November 1999.)
Senior Approved Services has deciedd to run a casual poll to
gauge the interest of such an idea. If the interest can indeed
be substantiated, it will move forward by organizing a program
that will match family caregivers interested in trading time in
exchange for receiving time in his or her local community.
Please take a moment and complete the following elder-care-co-op
poll – or if this doesn’t apply to you personally, we would ask
that you pass this on to someone that you know might benefit
from such a program. See
http://www.Seniorsapprove.Com/elder-care-co-op.Html
Coming together, equally taking and receiving, may actually help
both the family caregiver and the elder person in need of care.
Seniors would meet at least one other senior providing the
opportunity to develop a caring friendship. Family caregivers
would have the support of at least one other care provider in
their lcoal community.
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Elder Care Co-op
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