Why do we need a campaign?
According to NAC and AARP’s national survey Caregiving in the U.S. 2020, more than 1 in 5 people in the United States is caring for a family member, friend or neighbor with a health care need or functional disability. Family caregivers report increasing strain in meeting the medical and economic needs of their care recipients; seven in 10 do so with no paid help. Without adequate and affordable services and supports, the escalating demands on family caregivers will contribute to physical, emotional, and financial strain on this essential, yet often invisible workforce.
Although the National Strategy outlines hundreds of actions that federal legislative and regulatory bodies can take to provide relief to family caregivers, the RAISE process stops short of resourcing these actions and of setting time-bound and measurable goals related to implementation. The national strategy needs champions to heighten the visibility of family caregiving across federal agencies, drive accountability around implementation of the strategy, inform prioritization of actions, and to strengthen our federal response to family caregiving.
How does the campaign seek to affect real change?
The Act on RAISE campaign will accelerate RAISE National Strategy implementation efforts by:
- Systematically working with federal policymakers, agency leadership, and administration officials to ensure the timely implementation of the national strategy, ensuring transparency and accountability.
- Creating a space for information sharing and coordination among caregiving, healthcare, patient advocacy, aging, and disability groups around the national strategy.
