What the RAISE Family Caregivers Act Means for Caregivers

As caregivers, sometimes it can be difficult to find the help and support we need. Communities, health care systems, services and government all need to come up with a plan to identify, coordinate, and offer ways to help family caregivers across America. Caregivers are a part of the backbone of care in the United States. According to the AARP Public Policy Institute, the value of the services unpaid caregivers give was an estimated $470 billion in 2017. That’s more than the total Medicaid spending for health care and long-term services and supports combined. 

What is the RAISE Family Caregivers Act?

Too often while providing care to our loved ones, we may find ourselves lacking things like services, respite options, financial security, workplace security and education to address the challenges we face every day. To try to address this shortcoming, the Recognize, Assist, Include, Support, & Engage (RAISE) Family Caregivers Act was signed into law in January of 2018 to come up with a national family caregiving plan to:

• Promote greater use of person- and family-centered care in health care settings, including long-term care.
• Involve caregivers and their older loved ones in the evaluation and coordination of programs and services
• Identify quality sources of information, education, training, referrals and care coordination.
• Promote respite options for caregivers.
• Analyze financial security and workplace issues for caregivers.
• Deliver vetted services based on meeting the needs of family caregivers and their loved ones.

You can read the full RAISE Family Caregivers Act here.

The five goals of the RAISE Family Caregivers Act

The RAISE Family Caregiving Advisory Council was established to discover the scope of the needs of older adults and family caregivers. Following months of gathering the stories of caregivers and carefully examining data on the issues they face, twenty-six recommendations were made to incorporate into the development of a national plan that focuses on caregivers needs. On September 22, 2021 the Advisory Council released their initial report to Congress, summarizing these recommendations in five goals:

• Expand awareness, outreach and education of the role of family caregivers as a way to improve their physical, emotional and financial well-being.
• Recognize, engage, and support family caregivers as key partners of health care and service providers.
• Ensure family caregivers have access to an array of flexible person- and family-centered programs, supports, goods and services that meet the diverse and changing needs of family caregivers and their loved ones.
• Protect and enhance family caregivers’ lifetime financial and employment security.
• Engage family caregivers as stakeholders in national research and data gathering efforts. This research will document their experiences, translate evidence into best practices, contribute to the development of person and family-centered services, and further the progress of the National Family Caregiving Strategy.

You can read the full RAISE Family Caregivers Act Initial Report to Congress here. 

The 15th Annual Katz Policy Lecture on the RAISE Family Caregivers Act

On October 4, 2021, Benjamin Rose Institute on Aging held its 15th Annual Katz Policy Lecture, sponsored by AARP Ohio, and featuring the co-chair of the RAISE Family Caregiving Advisory Council, Dr. Alan Stevens. This lecture gives both caregivers and industry professionals a look into the Council’s work and recommendations. A panel of experts including Meg Kabat from the US Department of Veterans Affairs, Dr. Philip McCallion from Temple University School of Social Work, and Laura Thornhill from the Alzheimer’s Association and Alzheimer’s Impact Movement, responded by giving their thoughts on how caregivers from diverse backgrounds could be impacted by the recommendations, and shared their ideas on how the Act should proceed. 

Watch the 15th Annual Katz Policy Lecture:

Next steps

As caregivers, being recognized is a good first step, but there is still more we can do from here. We can stay up to date with the RAISE Family Caregiving Advisory Council by watching their past and recent meetings, following their agenda and learning more about their members on the Administrative for Community Living website. There are also many ways to stay involved and find opportunities through participating in research, one of the central goals identified by the Advisory Council. Find out more about research opportunities and how to get involved here.