Bipartisan RAISE Act is a Step in the Right Direction for our Aging Population

About Juliet Holt Klinger

Senior Director of Dementia Care

Juliet is a passionate advocate for people living with dementia and their families. She is deeply committed to improving the cultural acceptance of those with cognitive differences. As our gerontologist and Senior Director of Dementia Care, Juliet develops person-centered care and programming for Brookdale’s dementia care communities. But if you ask her, Juliet says she continues to learn every day from the true experts, those living with dementia and their care partners. Juliet believes we need to move beyond the concept of caregiving, which implies a one-sided relationship, and embrace the idea of care partnering. Care partnering is about relationships built on cooperation—a two-way street promoting person-centered care and mutual feelings of purpose, where the person living with dementia also plays a strong role in shaping their care and daily routine. We are here to partner, learn and grow with our residents and families to make aging a better experience. After volunteering in nursing homes in high school, Juliet knew she wanted to work with older adults. While working on her bachelor’s degree in social work at the University of Iowa, she completed an Aging Studies Certificate program, before there were formal gerontology programs available. At Iowa, Juliet also had the chance to study with pioneers in the field of dementia care, an opportunity that shaped her passion for caring for those living with dementia. Trained as a gerontologist, with a master’s degree from the University of Northern Colorado, Juliet joined Brookdale in 2004. She is a seasoned senior living executive with more than 30 years of experience designing and executing innovative Alzheimer's and dementia care programs and living environments in both assisted living and skilled settings.

In a time when bipartisan cooperation in Washington, D.C., seems out of reach, this week a bill passed that everyone can get behind. The President signed the Recognize, Assist, Include, Support and Engage (RAISE) Family Caregivers Act into law on Monday, a move that proves the government is paying attention to the ever-growing needs of our aging population and those who care for them.

The legislation addresses the needs of family caregivers and requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to develop, maintain and implement a strategy that supports family caregivers over the next three years. HHS will get input from an advisory council made up of representatives from the private and public sectors. The topics addressed will include:

Respite care options
The need for person-centered and family-centered care in long-term care settings
Financial security
Workplace flexibility
Information, education and resources for navigating the healthcare system
Assessment and service planning (including care transitions and coordination) involving recipients and family caregivers

Within three years, our government’s goal is to have a set of best practices that supports healthcare providers, employers, and most importantly, family caregivers. With any luck, this should alleviate some of the stress family caregivers carry on a daily basis. It is my sincere hope that this new law will begin the tough work of shaping our nation’s plan for dementia care/elder care options for families in America.

Here are the cold hard facts:

According to the United Nations, almost 15 percent of the American population has reached the official retirement age. That means that for every four Americans of working age, there is one of retirement age. The population of people age 65 and older will nearly double between now and 2050—from 47.8 million to 88 million. And we know that for most of us as our years accumulate, so can our dependence on support from others to get by.

Although as a gerontologist, I loathe describing anything related to aging in negative terms, and I generally avoid terms like “silver tsunami” or “looming crisis” – it is still very hard not to be alarmed when you recognize that these numbers just won’t cover it. The changing demographics caused by the aging of the baby boomers, will create a need for an additional 1.1 million paid caregivers in the workforce according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. As Robert Espinoza from the Paraprofessional Healthcare Institute reminds us, we need many more bold ideas to pull additional workers into that professional caregiving labor force. And NOW is when we need to be thinking about that.

According to the AARP, in 2013, it is estimated that about 40 million family caregivers provided unpaid care to adults who needed help with daily activities such as bathing, dressing, meal preparation and transportation that totaled about $470 billion. That is more than the total Medicaid spending in 2013.

As American families are challenged with providing more care (whether paid or unpaid) as they will increasingly be doing in the coming years, they deserve a comprehensive system of support and care options—including day care, respite programs, assessment and service planning options. I am pleased to see that our nation’s leaders have started the conversation and the planning for the structure around these supports. Although it is important to point out that the RAISE Act did not authorize any additional funding for HHS, it is a good start.

Hats off to Senators Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), and Representatives Gregg Harper (R-Miss.) and Kathy Castor (D-Fla), for their sponsorship and work on the bill, and to the Alzheimer’s Association and others who lobbied to get it passed. This is a cause worth working together for.