November is National Homecare Month

PRLog (Press Release) - Nov. 12, 2012 - Natick, Mass. - (November 12, 2012) – Today, more than 65 million people in the United States – 29% of the adult population - care for a chronically ill, disabled or elder family member for an average of 20 hours per week, according to the National Alliance for Caregiving in collaboration with AARP.

In Massachusetts, according to 2004 statistics compiled by National Family Caregivers Association and Family Caregiver Alliance’s National Center on Caregiving, more than 650,000 family caregivers spent 697 million hours on caregiving, representing an annual market value of more than $6.9 million.

An AARP Livable Communities report indicates that “the number of Americans age 65+ is projected to double from 40.2 million in 2010 to 88.5 million in 2050,” and the number of individuals needing personalized, individualized care will also skyrocket, according to Judith Boyko, MBA, MS, RN, CEO of Natick Visiting Nurse Association and Century Health Systems.

“Increasingly, aging Americans want to remain in their homes, where they are comfortable and where their surroundings are familiar,” she said. “However,” she added, “their families will continue to rely on professional help to take care of them. Caregiving is demanding and can be very taxing on a caregiver. Family caregiving costs jobs, it costs money and it can negatively impact the health of those who are delivering care,” Boyko added.

Family caregivers are at risk for depression; stress; low self-esteem; higher rates of such chronic illnesses as heart disease, diabetes and arthritis; and lower levels of self-care.

“Whether they are providing care at home following an illness or injury, providing hands-on supportive care or respite for family caregivers, our nurses, therapists, social workers, companions, home health and personal care aides, and homemakers are making a real difference in the MetroWest communities we serve. They care for our patients in the comfort of their own homes with dignity, respect and a true passion for what they do,” Boyko said.

The Natick VNA is located at 209 West Central Street, Suite 313, Natick, Mass., 01760. For additional information, call 508-653-3081 or visit www.natickvna.org.

New Century Homecare Services is located at 209 West Central Street, Suite 315, Natick, Mass., 01760. For additional information, call 508-653-8512 or visit www.newcenturyhomecare.com.

About The Natick VNA: The Natick VNA (http://www.natickvna.org/), which serves more than 20 towns in MetroWest, is the area’s premier free-standing, not-for-profit home health care agency. The Natick VNA helps patients of all ages to stay out of the hospital and live with the fullest degree of independence in their own homes, while benefiting from the agency’s state-of-the-art home telemonitoring technology, ComfortCare (http://www.natickvna.org/content66.html) palliative care program, cold laser therapy, and other advanced services. The Natick VNA is a nationally-recognized 2012 Home Care Elite agency.

About New Century Homecare Services: New Century Homecare Services is a sister organization of the Natick Visiting Nurse Association and is committed to excellence and is dedicated to providing personal support, direct care, and assistance with all aspects of daily living at home, to individuals and families, alone or in collaboration with other community providers.

Photo:
http://www.prlog.org/12014712/1