Caregiving
Caregiving
Caregiving Initiative
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NAPCA aims to provide older adults and their caregivers with an effective way to search for services that specifically address their cultural and linguistic needs. To achieve this, Archstone has funded NAPCA with a grant and are collaborating to create a comprehensive inventory of services that bridge these linguistic and cultural gaps.
Culturally competent care recognizes the diversity within the aging populations that include language, customs, beliefs, social activities and cuisine.
NAPCA is starting with the six counties with the highest concentrations of AANHPI communities and plans for the release of the database to be made public late 2025 on this website.
Caregiving Initiative
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The Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) elder population is a rapidly growing and diverse group with high rates of poverty and health disparities, many of whom lack adequate access to culturally aligned services. Culturally competent care recognizes the diversity within aging populations that include language, customs, beliefs, social activities and cuisine. Existing databases and resources often lack detailed information on cultural competencies. While they designate services for older adult assistance, specific language proficiency and cultural familiarity are not included.Click on your location for more details.
NAPCA’s Caregiver Initiative seeks to identify and build a comprehensive inventory of culturally sensitive, in-language care providers and service offerings for older AANHPI and their caregivers. In 2024, the Archstone Foundation provided NAPCA with a three-year grant to support this initiative.
NAPCA will begin this initiative with six counties in California with the highest concentrations of AANHPI communities (LA, OC, SF, Sacramento, Santa Clara, Alameda). The first step is to identify key aging organizations operating in these counties such as Area Agencies on Aging, California Caregiver Resource Centers, the Asian American Foundation, and other community-based organization stakeholders. This is helping us understand the specific caregiving needs of AANHPI elders, landscape of existing data resources, and care providers. We are exploring collaboration opportunities to integrate and/or enhance the efforts of various eldercare organizations serving these diverse populations. Additionally, we are actively seeking funding from various foundations both within California and across the nation.
NAPCA Extends Caregiving Project with Archstone Foundation Grant Renewal
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Finding culturally and linguistically appropriate care services for older adults can be challenging, especially during times of urgent need. At the National Asian Pacific Center on Aging (NAPCA), we are committed to bridging this gap through the Caregiving Project, a dedicated initiative to help older adults and their caregivers connect with culturally and linguistically competent services.
We are thrilled to announce that the Archstone Foundation has renewed its support for this project for an additional two years. Through this continued partnership, NAPCA will develop a comprehensive service inventory designed to meet the unique needs of Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) communities.
This inventory will be made publicly accessible through a searchable database tool, allowing individuals to easily find service providers that offer culturally relevant and language-appropriate support.
Calling All Service Providers in California!
If your organization serves older adults in California, we invite you to participate by completing our short form. The information you provide on your language capabilities and cultural competencies will ensure that caregivers and older adults can easily find the resources they need.
Please share the form with other care providers that you know. Thank you for supporting this critical initiative and helping us build a stronger, more inclusive network of care!
Best Programs
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Three Types of Programs Offered to Dementia Caregivers
Wouldn’t it be nice if caring for an older loved one came with a manual? Caregiving is a role you take on with honor and commitment, but you soon find out that there are many aspects to providing care that require skills, training and techniques that most of us just don’t have.
A new website has been introduced that’s helping to bridge that information gap. Best Programs for Caregiving is an information-filled, easy-to-use, free website from Benjamin Rose Institute on Aging and Family Caregiver Alliance that for the first time puts details about useful programs and services directly into the hands of family caregivers who need them most. Visit the Best Programs for Caregiving website at bpc.caregiver.org.
How can these programs help?
There are many opportunities for you to get the help they need in almost every area of care. Some programs are offered in person, some are online or by telephone to accommodate your busy schedule. Many programs are free of charge or have costs that are covered by insurance or government funding.
The new Best Programs for Caregiving website pinpoints programs that are available within your area; you just type in your zip code. It also identifies programs that have been adapted to meet the needs of diverse cultures and ethnicities, and provides information about how to enroll in them.
The types of programs available are:
1. Skills training and education programs
Most people admittedly have little to no experience in caring for an aging loved one. Skills training programs are designed specifically to provide you with hands-on, practical information needed to physically take care of an older adult who may no longer be able to complete daily tasks on their own.
You’ll learn more about the disease, how to understand and manage challenging behaviors, and how to handle daily activities like bathing, meals and shopping. In research studies these programs have been shown to increase participants’ knowledge and confidence in providing hands-on care.
2. Stress reduction and caring for the caregiver
Providing care for someone with dementia can be time-consuming, stressful and exhausting, especially if you are employed and have a family of your own. Your own health and well-being is all-too-often overlooked.
Several programs featured in Best Programs for Caregiving give harried caregivers the tools to reduce the stress and anxiety they experience in their daily lives. Programs advise how to improve your self-care, including diets, exercise and medical visits, and increase your understanding of how your own mental and physical well-being impacts the quality of care you are able to provide.
Stress reduction activities can include exercise, mental stimulation, yoga and mindfulness exercises. Again, these programs have been proven through research to be effective.
3. Care navigation programs
Care navigation programs, sometimes referred to as care consultation or care coaching programs, provide one-on-one assistance to caregivers by experienced professionals. They are very flexible to help you with finding the resources and services you may need, such as those that provide in-home aides, meals, transportation, legal and financial guidance, as well as all types of healthcare services. Care navigators customize the assistance to meet your individual needs. They also help prioritize your needs, answer your questions, and serve as a sympathetic listener who understands the challenges of caregiving.
Many of these programs are offered by telephone or online to make them more convenient for caregivers to use.
Visit the Best Programs for Caregiving website at bpc.caregiver.org.
Watch a 60-second video that quickly gives an overview of what BPC is and why caregivers should visit
Compassionate Choices
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About the Advance Planning Guide
Like many people, you may have put off making decisions about your end-of-life care. Thinking and talking about end-of-life issues can be difficult, and putting documents in place can seem daunting. That’s why we have developed this advanced planning guide.
The guide will help you think through your priorities for end-of-life care, complete an advance directive and other forms you may need, choose a representative to speak for you if you cannot, and consider common end-of-life medical interventions so you can specify what you want or don’t want — right up to the end. And it will guide you in having valuable conversations with your healthcare providers and loved ones
Dementia Values and Priorities
A Dementia Values and Priorities Tool in English, Simplified and Traditional Chinese.
We Care Videos
Focused on telling caregiver stories, every inspiring episode highlights a different caregiver in the AAHPI community.
We Care caregiving Episode #1: The Shahanes
Recently, NAPCA collaborated with @AAJC and acclaimed producer @Risa Morimoto to create a series of inspiring caregiving videos. Episode 1 of the We Care series features The Shahanes.
We Care caregiving Episode #2: The Sintumuangs
Recently, NAPCA collaborated with @AAJC and acclaimed producer @Risa Morimoto to create a series of inspiring caregiving videos. Episode 2 of the We Care series features The Sintumuangs.
We Care caregiving Episode #3: The Herrs
Recently, NAPCA collaborated with @AAJC and acclaimed producer @Risa Morimoto to create a series of inspiring caregiving videos. Episode 3 of the We Care series features The Herrs.
We Care caregiving Episode #4: The Woo-Ockermans
Recently, NAPCA collaborated with @AAJC and acclaimed producer @Risa Morimoto to create a series of inspiring caregiving videos. Episode 4 of the We Care series features The Woo-Ockermans.