Happy National Caregiver Appreciation Day!

Today, we celebrate those quiet heroes, who are caring for their parent with dementia, their partner faced with a chronic illness, their child with special needs, or a stranger in recovery who has become a friend. Whether caregiving is your career or a responsibility you have taken on for a loved one, we see you and honor you and the work you do.

Caregiving is more than just scheduling and driving to appointments; it is also the thousands of small acts of love and service that caregivers provide daily. It is assisting with personal care, preparing meals, grocery shopping, managing medication, and so much more. A national survey conducted for the National Alliance for Caregiving and the AARP Public Policy Institute found that forty million Americans provide care to an adult family member or friend, but very few of them identify as caregivers. Many people do not recognize caregiving tasks as such; they see these tasks as simply what they need to do to support friends or family.

KDHRC is working on an exciting project for male informal caregivers caring for older adults aging in place. KDHRC has designed the Intervention to Help Orient Men to Excel (IN-HOME) program for community health workers to build their knowledge, skills, and self-efficacy to conduct caregiver outreach. The program seeks to ensure male caregivers are recognized, assisted, included, supported, and engaged.

At KDHRC, we are committed to applying our public health knowledge to support communities through powerful programs. Caregivers deserve to feel the same levels of care they provide to others, day in and day out. Take a moment to reach out to the caregivers in your life and let them know that you recognize and appreciate their hard work. Happy National Caregiver Appreciation Day from all of us at KDHRC!