Advocacy
In the United States, there are an estimated 50-65 million family caregivers who provide essential care to adults with chronic or terminal illnesses or serious mental or physical disabilities, and millions more who provide paid care in conjunction with family members and medical professionals. Despite being an important component of the nexus of care, for too long, there has been a profound absence of the voices of family and paid caregivers in discussions about health care. Numerous organizations in New York and across the country are engaged in the struggle to change the way that this care is valued and supported.
Caring Across Generations brings together caregivers, people with disabilities, and aging Americans to create a new way to live well and age with dignity. Since 2011, they have been building a movement of all ages and backgrounds to transform the way we care. Their ultimate goal is a world where everyone can age with dignity and caregivers are respected and supported.
Hand in Hand: The Domestic Employers Network is a national network of employers of nannies, housecleaners and home attendants, our families and allies, who are grounded in the conviction that dignified and respectful working conditions benefit worker and employer alike. We envision a future where people live in caring communities that recognize all of our interdependence. To get there, we support employers to improve their employment practices, and to collaborate with workers to change cultural norms and public policies that bring dignity and respect to domestic workers and all of our communities.
New York Caring Majority is a movement of seniors, people with disabilities, family caregivers, domestic workers, and home care providers from all across the state. They want to change the way we care by making home care affordable and available to all who need it, creating the quality long-term care jobs we need to meet our growing demand, and defending basic and essential programs such as Medicaid, the Older Americans Act, and the Affordable Care Act
Domestic Workers United is an organization of Caribbean, Latina and African nannies, housekeepers, and elderly caregivers in New York, organizing for power, respect, fair labor standards and to help build a movement to end exploitation and oppression for all.
United Hospital Fund’s Family Caregiver Initiative: Through innovative research and analysis, broad dissemination of findings, and collaboration with health care and social service providers to stimulate systemic change, United Hospital Fund works to advance public and professional understanding of the crucial role family caregivers play in the health care system. UHF stimulates the development of sound policies and programs that support family caregivers’ needs for information, education, training, and inclusion in the patient’s health care team. While New York is the focus of much of this work, its impact and relevance are national.