Impact Brief – October 2022
It is exciting to announce the release of the 2022 National Strategy to Support Family Caregivers developed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services which details more than 350 federal actions and 150 measures that state and local governments, public health departments, philanthropies, and community-based, faith-based, and nonprofit organizations can take to support America’s 53 million family caregivers. The National Strategy is open for the public to provide public comment from Oct. 1 through Nov. 30, 2022. The National Alliance for Caregiving will provide a template comment letter to help you do so; please contact Mike Wittke, mike@caregiving.org. The Strategy will be updated biennially, informed in part by public feedback, ensuring it continues to address the evolving needs of family caregivers and those they care for.
The release of this National Strategy comes at a significant time for family caregivers. According to research from the National Alliance for Caregiving and AARP, there were 10 million more family caregivers in 2020 than there were in 2015 and the share of family caregivers who have difficulty coordinating care for their care partners increased from 19% in 2015 to 26% in 2020. More than one in five family caregivers say caregiving made their health worse. These issues are acutely impacting family caregivers of color, making family caregiving one of the most under addressed drivers of inequity in the US.
The National Strategy is comprised of four documents:
- 2022 National Strategy to Support Family Caregivers – Provides an overview and description of the strategy’s goals and intended outcomes.
- First Principles: Cross-Cutting Considerations for Family Caregiver Support – Describes the four key principles that must be reflected in all efforts to improve support to family caregivers.
- Federal Actions – Nearly 350 actions that 15 federal agencies will take in the near term to begin to implement the strategy.
- Actions for States, Communities, and Others – More than 150 actions others can take.