Massachusetts has a program to help Family Caregivers

Well, apparently Massachusetts has a program to help Family Caregivers - now if we can just get something like this going on a national level...

Enhanced Adult Family Care (EAFC)
"Enhanced Adult Family Care (EAFC) is a MassHealth program that pays family members or non-family members to care for elderly or disabled adults at home. The goal of the program is delay or prevent nursing home placements. EAFC makes it possible for frail elderly and disabled residents to stay in their own homes or homes of caregivers instead of being institutionalized."

They will pay the caregiver $1,500 per month provided they are approved by the program and willing to provide 24-hour support. Trust me, family caregivers provide 24-hour support to their care recipients. You wake when they wake, you stay awake as they nap during the afternoon, you stay awake as they fall asleep, then you wake up every time they have to get up to use the bathroom or knock their blankets off or need to be scooted back up on the bed. You better be able to lift and hold up someone that is a good foot taller than you and may outweigh you. You need to be able to have a stomach of steel when they get sick and be able to care for them and clean up anything. You have to know more about medications and blood pressure and their health history than their doctor knows and you need to be able to make a snap call on questioning a doctor or nurse in what they are saying when you know it is not right.

Caregivers are not given the credit they deserve and they certainly are not paid what they should be.

Family Caregivers have the highest stress unpaid job in the world.

Oh, and you need to have developed a keane Spidey sense, and be fast enough to duck before the steel urinal hits you in the back of your head.