Now is the time to recognize and honor family caregivers across the country. It is an opportunity to raise awareness of caregiving issues, educate communities and increase support for caregivers.

The burden of care is often placed on adult children or other family members, many of whom have full-time jobs and kids of their own. According to an Alliance for Caregiving and AARP Public Policy Institute survey, 40% of caregivers feel emotionally stressed, almost 20% say it caused financial problems, and about 20% feel physically strained. Unpaid-caregiver burnout among these “sandwich generation” individuals often impacts their performance and engagement at work.

Family caregivers comfort their elderly and/or ill companions, coordinate their care, help them bathe, clean their houses and shop for them. While many find the experience rewarding, it can also be frustrating and take a toll on their emotional and physical wellbeing. Over half of caregivers report elevated levels of depression and anxiety, worsened physical health and higher use of psychoactive medications.

These tips are a good reminder for caregivers and those who are close to caregivers:

• Seek support Ask family members for help and include them in caregiving decisions. See if your employer offers a program like Magellan’s Senior Caregiver Assistance, powered by DUOS, that combines human contact with technology that can give caregivers much-needed support and enable seniors to live full lives.
• Share the tasks When family or friends offer to lend a hand, be ready with specific ideas. Make a weekly list and share that list with others to help with shopping, housecleaning, etc.
• Take care of yourself Be sure to schedule and go to your medical checkups. Eat a healthy diet, exercise and get enough sleep.
• Make time for activities you enjoy Don’t neglect the things in your life that need attention. Read, listen to music, paint, play a game, etc.
• Plan for respite care Respite services provide someone who can stay with your family member while you get away for a few hours or days. Time off can help you manage your stress and be a better caretaker.

Visit our Behavioral Health Resources web page for free resources and expert advice to help our communities, client, members and providers.

Sources: CDC, Healthwise

Magellan Federal honors military caregiving children through a commitment to Hidden Helpers Coalition

Military Appreciation Month is celebrated in May and is a special month for those in and out of uniform. Throughout the month we celebrate Memorial Day (May 30), Military Spouse Appreciation Day (May 6), and Armed Forces Day (May 21). But did you know that it is also Month of the Military Caregiver?

Month of the Military Caregiver

The Month of the Military honors more than five million self-identified caregivers in the United States. By observing Military Caregivers, we can raise awareness and support for both wounded warriors and the people who care for them. Many of those caregivers are children, who have largely been unrecognized and unsupported—until now.

Honoring Military Caregiving Children

There are 2.3 million children of injured, ill, and wounded service members and veterans who play a crucial role in caring for their loved ones.

Magellan Federal has joined the Elizabeth Dole Foundation’s Hidden Helpers Coalition, a group of more than 60 organizations committed to recognizing the service of military caregiving kids and enhancing support services available to them. As a Coalition member, we have pledged to engage our nation’s health care providers to create a new national model of support for caregiver children within medical institutions to ensure that the physicians, nurses, and mental health and allied health professionals better understand and address the unique challenges military children face at every stage of their development.

Through the work of targeted sub-committees, the goal of the Hidden Helpers Coalition is to create a comprehensive framework of best practices, impactful tools, and action steps focused on supporting the overall well-being and long-term positive outcomes of Hidden Helpers and their families. Through this holistic approach, the coalition will develop baseline best practices for the ecological systems that impact Hidden Helpers.

This commitment reinforces what we do here every day at Magellan Federal — supporting the behavioral health of military service members, veterans, civil servants, and their families — and is just one example of how we give back to the military community beyond our everyday work.

If you or your organization is interested in supporting military caregivers, I encourage you to stand with us to make a difference by reading more at Hiddenheros.org 

For November National Family Caregivers Month, we are pleased to share our e-interview with Pat Hunt, executive director of the Family Run Executive Director Leadership Association FREDLA, on family support organizations and how they help families who are dealing with mental health issues.

Magellan: Pat, so glad to have you with us today. Tell us a little about how you came to the work of family leadership.

Pat Hunt: It’s always a pleasure to spend time with folks at Magellan. Like family leaders across the nation, my lived experience has continued to shape the pathway. As a parent, I didn’t want anyone else’s child to struggle the way mine did – or for other parents to have a similar experience as mine. I was so fortunate to have the benefit of allies in my state – other parents, people in state government, providers – all willing to be courageous and develop solutions together. I worked with 16 families across my state to develop a statewide family network with a vision toward positive change. As a family leader, I applied what I had learned from my experience as an advocate – which may be a misunderstood word today – to help other families understand the impact of policy on service array, practice, access, quality, etc. and to have the information, opportunities, skills and resources to effectively participate. This foundation took me to national organizations, such as the Federation of Families, Magellan and FREDLA.

Magellan: You became the executive director at FREDLA almost two years ago. What are you passionate about in your work at FREDLA?

Pat Hunt: Family-run organizations across the nation are the bloodline of the family experience – flowing from the heart of every family they serve. THEY touch lives in amazing ways. FREDLA is here to nourish and support their work – to ensure they have the tools and support they need to be successful, viable and sustainable. That means we also help states, counties, practitioners, health plans and management organizations by providing consultation and training – because they are interdependent in achieving the positive outcomes for children, youth and their families.

Magellan: What should we be looking forward to in the next year on developments in the family support field?

Pat Hunt: 2020 has taught us that the efforts of peer family support partners have been nothing short of herculean during the most challenging of times. They are innovative, dedicated and resilient. The results of FREDLA’s recent national survey will be released soon and used to inform workforce development, technical assistance, national advocacy efforts and research programs. In March, we will be hosting a national event to respond to the needs of parent peer support providers, their supervisors and the funders and management of their programs. Stay tuned, and we hope your audience will as well.

Pat Hunt is the executive director of FREDLA, the national Family Run Executive Director Leadership Association, a non-profit union of leaders of grassroots family-run organizations across the nation. Along with her lived experience as a parent, Pat brings over 25 years of experiences as an advocate for children with behavioral health needs and their caregivers. During this time, she had extensive experience overseeing both federal and state grants and served as the founding director of a family-run organization.

Pat’s experience includes over 10 years in a corporate leadership role at Magellan Healthcare to advance best practices for children, youth and their families, and to ensure that their experiences informed policies, practices and program development. She previously held a senior leadership position as a conduit for local grassroots experience to inform national policy decisions at the Federation of Families for Children’s Mental Health. She has served as a VISTA Volunteer, directed a federally funded rural substance abuse prevention project, managed a statewide family-run organization, served as president of the Maine’s mental health planning council, and was the only non-state employee member invited to the Governor’s Children’s Cabinet.

 This is an excerpt from the Magellan Healthcare eMpowered for Wellness November newsletter. To read the full article, go here.