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Homewatch CareGivers' National Family Caregiver Award
5/25/2010 2:07:50 PM
Family caregivers often sacrifice their own health and well-being to care for an aging or ill loved one. Homewatch CareGivers wants to give them the recognition they deserve with our National Family Caregiver of the Year Award.
Services provided by family caregivers are among the most critically relied upon components of the healthcare industry. The family caregiver, through everyday sacrifice, cares for the well-being of their elderly loved ones or family members living with chronic conditions. Homewatch CareGivers wants to honor these special individuals, and recognize their tireless efforts with our National Family Caregiver of the Year Award.
Becoming a Family Caregiver
When a person becomes unable to care for themselves due to an accident, illness or old age, a family member is likely to step in and take on certain responsibilities to help. Gradually overtime, the ill family member's health declines, presenting more and more responsibilities to the family caregiver — until the caregiver is providing full-time assistance. Often, these individuals are unaware of the magnitude of care they are providing, and frequently sacrifice their personal identity, career, interpersonal relationships, quality of life and own physical health to become the family caregiver. They can lose sight of available resources that will significantly lighten their load, or better prepare them for the care they will be required to provide.
Duties of a Family Caregiver
The nuclear family has dispersed. About 60 percent of adult children live far away from their parents, which means that the family members who stay nearby are often left to assume the position of family caregiver, receiving little financial or tactical support from others. Thus, the family caregiver devotes a large part of their life to meeting the daily needs of another. According to the Evercare Survey of the Economic Downturn and Its Impact on Family Caregiving, 20 hours per week is the average number of hours family caregivers spend caring for their loved ones, while 13 percent of family caregivers are providing for 40 hours of care or more each week. Caregivers provide care for a family member in all arenas of life, from mobility assistance and transportation to cooking, feeding and toileting. Even in the wake of old age and illness, people are living longer, requiring longer spans of care — which means that family caregivers are often in that role for extended periods of time.
Why (and how) are we Recognizing Family Caregivers?
Homewatch CareGivers wishes to celebrate the outstanding efforts of family caregivers through the National Family Caregiver of the Year Award. This campaign gives us the opportunity to recognize these honorable and deserving individuals, as well as shed light on the everyday struggles they incur throughout their mission of care. We not only pay tribute to the tireless commitment of the family caregiver, but also look to provide specialized education for those individuals providing care — hoping to make their job easier.
There are two primary phases — the local and national levels. Local winners are selected by a local panel of care experts, and are awarded a full-year scholarship to the Homewatch CareGivers University. Local winners also qualify for the National Award, which awards a grand-prize of $5000 cash, furnished by Homewatch CareGivers International Home Office.
2009 Grand-Prize Winner
The 2009 national winner, Laura Dover, age 52, from Charlotte, N.C., was selected from 12 countrywide finalists by a distinguished panel. She provides superior care to her 26-year-old daughter, Ashley, who was severely injured in a car accident almost nine years prior to her receipt of this award.
To nominate someone online and to learn more about nomination process click here.
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