Across the state, older Georgians rely on family caregivers for support, but who can those caregivers turn to? Over the past year, the Georgia Department of Human Resources Division of Aging Services (DAS) and the aging network have provided over 358,000 instances of help for such family caregivers, including respite care, adult day care, information and assistance, caregiver education and training sessions, care management, and material aid in the form of assisting with purchasing transportation, food or groceries.

“DAS and the aging network continue to expand the array of services needed to support family caregivers in their efforts to keep their loved ones in the community,” said Maria Greene, Director of DAS.

In fiscal year 2007, the aging network provided individual services in several categories: adult day care services to 735 people, respite care to 1,665, material aid to 398, and case management and other services to 551. They also provided caregiver group services to more than 355,000 duplicated persons which included information and assistance that linked caregivers with needed resources, community public education sessions events, support groups, and training for professionals and caregivers.

Some of the work is being supported by grants from the U.S. Administration on Aging in the amount of $434,000, and $10,500 from AARP Georgia to implement a caregiver assessment tool and protocols that are being used to assist care managers in targeting services to family caregivers of persons with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias. DAS’ self-directed care program was highlighted in the U.S. Administration on Aging’s website as a “Program Champion,” and it was recommended to other states as a best practice that can help family caregivers.

DAS is currently coordinating “Train-the-Trainer” sessions across the state to train staff and volunteers from Area Agencies on Aging, the aging network, the University of Georgia Cooperative Extension, and the Alzheimer’s Association Georgia Chapter in the Powerful Tools for Caregivers (PTC) curriculum. PTC is a six week educational program which provides family caregivers with a number of self-care tools to reduce personal stress, communicate their needs to family members and healthcare service providers, and make tough caregiver decisions.

For information on DAS’ family caregiver services, call your local Area Agency on Aging or 1-866-55-Aging (1-866-552-4464).

http://dhr.georgia.gov/portal/site/DHR/