As 10,000 baby boomers become eligible for Medicare each day, family caregiving is a common issue in the lives of many Americans. Demographic shifts — such as longer life spans and shrinking family sizes — may shape the scope and quality of caregiving for our aging population. Media coverage of family caregiving requires an understanding of the complex and wide-ranging issues involved.
KFF Health News held a web briefing on Dec. 2, 2015 featuring caregiving experts answering questions from journalists. Below you can watch or listen to an archived recording of the events, read the transcript and get more information on the webinar speakers — as well as additional materials they prepared.
Webinar Archive
>> Can’t see the video? Click here to listen to audio instead.
Speakers & Additional Event Material
Edwin L. Walker, Deputy Assistant Secretary at the Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Community LivingDownload Presentation Slides: Powerpoint | PDF |
Kathleen Kelly, executive director of the Family Caregiver Alliance/National Center on CaregivingAdditional Reporter Background: Demographics| Work and Caregiving | Support Services and Technology |
Susan C. Reinhard, senior vice president at AARP and director of its Public Policy Institute.Download Presentation Slides: Powerpoint | PDF
|
Anna Gorman, senior correspondent for KFF Health NewsDownload Presentation Slides: Powerpoint | PDF
|
Additional Links & Resources
- AARP Public Policy Institute
- Family Caregiver Alliance
- Caregiving in the U.S. 2015 Study (by AARP and National Alliance for Caregiving)
- Paraprofessional Healthcare Institute (PHI)
- White House Conference on Aging (special brief on informal caregiving):
- Alzheimer’s Association
- SCAN Foundation (50-state scorecard on long-term services and supports)
- Pew Research Center
- National Family Caregiver Support Program (U.S. government-funded)
- Family Medical Leave Act
- IOM Study on Family Caregiving
- Hartford Foundation (info on Change AGEnts)
- Family Caregiver Platform Project
- Article on Clinton’s tax credit proposal
-
As the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Aging of the Administration on Aging (AoA) within the Administration for Community Living, Edwin L. Walker serves as the chief career official for the federal agency responsible for advocating on behalf of older Americans. Prior to joining the Administration on Aging, Mr. Walker served as the Director of the Missouri Division of Aging, responsible for administering a comprehensive set of human service programs for older persons and adults with disabilities. He received a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts degree in mass media arts from Hampton University.
Kathleen Kelly is Executive Director of Family Caregiver Alliance, a national nonprofit organization that provides direct caregiver support services, public policy development, research and public awareness regarding family caregivers. Ms. Kelly oversees programs of the Bay Area Caregiver Resource Center providing direct services to families in the San Francisco Bay Area, California policy collaborations and the National Center on Caregiving. For 22 years, she oversaw the Statewide Resource Consultant contact with the state of California to develop the programs, protocols and data analysis for the CA system of Caregiver Resource Centers. Ms. Kelly represents the agency on a variety of national coalitions and partnerships that are working towards coordinated care with the inclusion of family caregivers as part of the care team, better training for health and social service professionals and increasing training and support for family caregivers.
Dr. Susan C. Reinhard is a Senior Vice President at AARP, directing its Public Policy Institute, the focal point for public policy research and analysis at the state, federal and international levels. She also serves as the Chief Strategist for the Center to Champion Nursing in America, a national resource center created to ensure America has the nurses it needs to provide care in the future. Dr. Reinhard is a nationally recognized expert in health and long-term care policy, with extensive experience in conducting, directing and translating research to promote policy change. Previously, she served as Professor and Co-Director of Rutgers Center for State Health Policy, directing several national initiatives with states to help people with disabilities of all ages live in their communities.
Anna Gorman joined from the Los Angeles Times, where she worked for nearly 15 years covering health care, immigration and the Mexican border. She was a 2011 Nieman Fellow at Harvard University, and taught journalism at Harvard University and at USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. Anna earned her bachelor’s degree from UC Berkeley and her master’s from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. While at the L.A. Times, she was part of a team that won a 2004 Pulitzer Prize.