1st Edition

Family and Aging Policy

Edited By Francis G. Caro Copyright 2006
    248 Pages
    by Routledge

    246 Pages
    by Routledge

    Learn how public policies can help families provide the care their elderly relatives need

    Family and Aging Policy examines how public initiatives to assist the elderly in the United States, Canada, Singapore, Denmark, and Sweden can impact families who provide them with long-term care. For the majority of older people, the aging experience involves their families directly and indirectly, affecting income security, housing, and health care. This unique book addresses the aging issues that matter most to families struggling to deal with the demands of care giving and provides answers on how the public sector can help.

    As the traditional nuclear family becomes a memory and the notion of extended family disappears, the need for public interventions to help the elderly increases. A significant number of people grow old without families they can depend on. Others have families who want to help, but lack the financial means or the housing needed to provide care. Family and Aging Policy offers options on how families and formal services can share responsibilities, including how families can juggle jobs and care giving, the effects of the Family and Medical Leave Act, consumer-directed service options, community-based care programs, accessory dwelling units and zoning ordinances, and provisions for caregiver support in each of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia.

    Family and Aging Policy examines:

    • extensive welfare programs in Sweden
    • publicly funded home care programs in Denmark
    • family-oriented social policies in Singapore
    • shared responsibilities of families and formal services in Canada
    • the Administration on Aging’s National Family Caregiver Support program in the United States
    • California Caregiver Resource Centers
    • and much more!
    Family and Aging Policy is an invaluable tool for researchers and policy analysts working in family policy issues and as an essential supplemental text for course work in gerontology, sociology, family relations, and social work.

    • INTRODUCTION
    • Family and Aging Policy (Francis G. Caro)
    • INTERNATIONAL VIEW
    • Policies and Practices in Support of Family Caregivers—Filial Obligations Redefined in Sweden (Lennarth Johansson and Gerdt Sundström)
    • Danish Home Care Policy and the Family: Implications for the United States (Mary Stuart and Eigil Boll Hansen)
    • A Critical Review of Singapore’s Policies Aimed at Supporting Families Caring for Older Members (Kalyani K. Mehta)
    • Families’ Values and Attitudes Regarding Responsibility for the Frail Elderly: Implications for Aging Policy (Nancy Guberman, Jean-Pierre Lavoie, Michel Fournier, Lise Grenier, Éric Gagnon, Hélène Belleau, and Aline Vézina)
    • THE UNITED STATES
    • Commentary: What Role for the Family and Medical Leave Act in Long-Term Care Policy? (Steven K. Wisensale)
    • Preliminary Experiences of the States in Implementing the National Family Caregiver Support Program: A 50-State Study (Lynn Friss Feinberg and Sandra L. Newman)
    • Families, Work, and an Aging Population: Developing a Formula That Works for the Workers (Donna L. Wagner).
    • Family and Friends as Respite Providers (Carol J. Whitlatch and Lynn Friss Feinberg)
    • The Family Caregiving Career: Implications for Community-Based Long-Term Care Practice and Policy (Joseph E. Gaugler and Pamela Teaster)
    • Zoning, Accessory Dwelling Units, and Family Caregiving: Issues, Trends, and Recommendations (Phoebe S. Liebig, Teresa Koenig, and Jon Pynoos)
    • Resident and Family Perspectives on Assisted Living (Carrie A. Levin and Rosalie A. Kane)
    • Welfare Reform: Challenges for Grandparents Raising Grandchildren (Casey E. Copen)
    • State Policy Decisions in the 1990s with Implications for the Financial Well-Being of Later-Life Families (Gretchen J. Hill)
    • Index
    • Reference Notes Included

    Biography

    Francis G. Caro