So far Hillary Clinton – who cared for her own aging mother – is the only 2016 presidential candidate to call for legislative support to family caregivers. But that doesn’t discourage America’s caregiver advocates: as the campaign season heats up, they plan to build on hard-won achievements like the Assisting Caregivers Today (ACT) caucus and the CARE Act.
They’ll do it through the Family Caregiver Platform Project, a grassroots effort aimed at getting family caregiving issues included in as many state party platforms as possible – seizing on the election to promote caregiving issues nationally. The project isn’t trying to get one piece of legislation passed; instead, its goal is to have each state design a caregiver platform based on the needs of its citizens.
Here’s how you can get involved:
- Find your state on the Family Caregiver Platform Project website
- Download a sample template: Caregiver Platform Planks
- Make your voice heard by becoming a volunteer, a state contact person, or getting the word out on your own
Party affiliation is irrelevant; we all grow old, no matter which political party we belong to. So dive on in – let’s age well and wisely together.