Family caregiving affects just about everyone. If you haven’t been a caregiver, chances are you will be in the future.

In North Dakota, more than 62,000 family caregivers help parents, spouses, children with disabilities, and other loved ones live independently at home. They provide a wide range of services for their loved ones, including bathing, dressing, transportation, grocery shopping, meal preparation, housework, and managing finances. They often serve as care coordinators, communicating with health professionals and accompanying their loved ones to medical appointments.

Two pieces of legislation that would provide support to North Dakota’s unpaid family caregivers will be introduced in the 2017 session of the North Dakota Legislature.

After months of study, the Legislature’s Interim Human Services Committee in September unanimously endorsed the caregiver bills.

The Caregiver Advise Record and Enable (CARE) Act would ensure that family caregivers are kept informed and are provided with an explanation and a demonstration of the medical tasks they will perform at home after a loved one is discharged from a hospital. Roughly 50 percent of our state’s family caregivers performing medical or nursing tasks do not get the appropriate instruction or training to perform these tasks.

A second bill to provide support for family caregivers was developed based on recommendations from a study conducted this year by the NDSU Extension Service.

Specifically, the bill is a first step in implementing the recommendations made in the NDSU Extension study. This bill would:

–     Allow the Department of Human Services to apply for a federal grant to provide caregivers with additional respite care.

–     Direct the Aging Services Division to improve outreach and resources to help family caregivers find and navigate available programs and services.

–     Appropriate approximately $180,000 to expand NDSU Extension’s caregiver training program.

–     Update the fee schedule for the Service Payments for the Elderly and Disabled program, making home care services more affordable, especially for those on fixed incomes.

–     Include legislative intent language reflecting the state’s need to better balance its long-term care funding to help individuals with the support they need to safely remain in their own homes rather than having to move to more expensive institutional care.

Increased access to respite care across the state is critical. Respite care helps to support family caregivers, many who are on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week, by giving them a hard-earned, well-deserved break. National, state, and local surveys have shown respite care to be the most frequently requested service from family caregivers.

AARP has established itself as the leader on family caregiving advocacy in the state to advance policy initiatives that would support the tens of thousands of North Dakotans performing this labor of love. If you are a caregiver, talk to your legislators about your experiences and what supports would help you.

Meanwhile, you can learn more about caregiver resources by calling the Family Caregiver Support Program at 1-855-462-5465. You can also request a copy of “Prepare to Care: A Resource Guide for Families” by calling the AARP North Dakota office at 1-866-554-5383.