New York Facing Caregiving Crisis -Tackling Issue to be a Top AARP Legislative Priority

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Nov 20, 2013, 05:25 ET

MEDIA ADVISORY

You're Taking Care of Mom, But Who Will Care for You?

Demographic Shift Spells Disaster in NY as State Ranks at Bottom of Barrel in Providing Support for Booming Population of People Who Need Care

ALBANY, N.Y., Nov. 20, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- New York ranks 48^th of the 50 states in supporting caregivers, who provide unpaid care for loved ones. AARP New York says that's got to change. Making matters worse, a looming population shift in New York will find fewer caregivers to care for more elderly residents, stretching caregivers even thinner. Tomorrow, joining with key advocates and caregivers, the Association will announce tackling the issue as one of its top 2014 legislative priorities. Joining with advocates from across the state, AARP will release a legislative blueprint for improving New York's approach to supporting the 4.1 million people who provide $32 billion in unpaid care to loved ones, including many elderly and frail.

WHEN: 11 a.m. Thursday, November 21, 2013

WHERE: Room 130 Legislative Office Building, LCA Press Room
State Street, Albany, NY (across from the State Capitol)

WHO: Neal Lane, President, AARP New York
Beth Finkel, State Director, AARP New York
Igal Jellinek, Executive Director, Council of Senior Centers and Services of NYC
Ann Marie Cook, Director, NYS Caregiving & Respite Coalition
Laura Cameron, executive director, NYS Association of Area Offices of Aging
Caregivers – sharing their stories, struggles and stresses.

WHY: New York has cut funding for caregiver programs in recent years even as the proportion of New Yorkers who provide care has increased to 32 percent, from 25 percent in the 1990s - with the elderly population projected to continue rising. AARP and its partners will urge Gov. Andrew Cuomo and state legislators to adopt new ideas for strengthening supports to caregivers - ideas generated by caregivers themselves at listening sessions across the state. These mostly non-medical investments will save money by keeping older New Yorkers out of costly institutional care and in their own homes and communities with their families, and will help maintain worker productivity, with studies showing businesses lose billions annually because of employees' caregiving obligations.

SOURCE AARP New York