There’s a new effort designed to help support families who are trying to provide care to older adults. It’s called the Caregiver Respite Project, and it brings together a number of organizations include Lifespan, the Alzheimer’s Association, the Monroe County Office for the Aging and many others.
Ann Marie Cook is CEO of Lifespan, and she notes that about 80 percent of caregivers in the U.S. are family members. She says they’re glad to help out their loved ones, but they need help.
“They can’t do it 24-7, and we’ve heard from family caregivers who say we don’t need a lot of time, but we need a break, we need a break running errands, we need a break to take care of our own health care, we just need a little bit of break so we can continue to be a caregiver.”
This new effort, which is being publicized through the Ad Council of Rochester, will pair trained volunteers with people diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment. The service is free, but donations are requested.
The website for the new effort is www.HelpACaregiver.org
