President Caregiver

In May, we hosted a CEO panel at the Fort Lauderdale Fearless Caregiver conference. Truth be known, I was crossing my fingers about how well such a panel would work since it truly exemplified our concept of fearless caregiving. But it went over better than I could have ever imagined. As I related in a previous column, the discussion was lively, open and invigorating. CEO’s shared their personal stories as caregivers shared their thoughts on the future of the healthcare system. I bring this event to your attention so many months later, because yesterday I had an insightful conversation with one of the CEO’s on the panel, Mark Pafford, who has dedicated his life’s work to supporting caregivers of those living with Alzheimer’s disease. Mark is the CEO of the Alzheimer’s Association, Southeast Florida Chapter  and a leading community activist. What I found most interesting is that he is now a candidate for the Palm Beach County Commission (as if he doesn’t do enough for the community).   His candidacy is what I hope to see become a trend with our healthcare leaders becoming policy makers.  

With a variety of extremely important elections coming up within the next few months, it is important for us to be fully aware of where the candidates stand on caregiving issues as well as other vitally important issues.  Do you know where your local, state and federal office holders and seekers stand on issues such as research funding, caregiver program funding and reauthorizations, funding for respite care, Medicare and Medicaid issues and/or consumer directed care?  For so many reasons, we caregivers can find ourselves feeling isolated and powerless, a fact that we work daily to help change for the better, but imagine how powerful 54 million voters can be when we use our voting privileges wisely by asking the right questions and voting accordingly.

Now, I wonder if I can establish residency in West Palm Beach’s sixth district in time to vote for Mark?

Vote early. Vote often. Vote Caregiving. 

What questions would you like to see candidates asked regarding caregiving issues?

Take care
Gary Barg
Editor-in-Chief
gary@caregiver.com

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Feature Article
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Caretips
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Carenotes
Ok, where do I start? I'm facing the challenge of taking care of my mother-in-law. I have no schooling in elderly care, and perhaps when she has accidents {she wears a diaper} I don't think any schooling can prepare your mind for this. I just pray and feel compassion for her. I keep her doing activities. She reads the paper, and loves my dog. I feel I need to do more from a physical point. Also I'm not working and my finances are low. Are there any benefits available for caregivers like myself? She gets social security, but my father-in-law puts it in his account. I just want the best for her. I want to meet all of her needs. What are her rights? What are my rights? Help! C in Louisiana   Answer This Week's CareNote: carenotes/2006/index.htm
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