Caring for a loved one who is living with dementia can be expensive. A report by AARP found that family members who help a loved one living with dementia pay over $10,000/year out the out-of-pocket costs of caregiving. These costs include “big ticket” items, such as home modifications (e.g., adding grab bars to a bathroom), as well as smaller daily expenses that add up (e.g., groceries).
Financial stress can affect caregivers’ physical and mental health. Worrying about how to pay for caregiving expenses keeps caregivers up at night. Caregivers often feel anxious how to cover costs when their loved one’s care needs increase, and how to look out for their own future financial wellbeing.
CONFIDENCE is a 5-week program developed to help caregivers lower the out-of-pocket costs of caregiving and lower financial stress. During group sessions, caregivers learn how to track spending, identify community resources, manage another person’s money when they no longer are able to, balance employment and caregiving, and more.
“I learned that there are many programs, there are an enormous amount of programs,” shared one caregiver. “[CONFIDENCE] made me have new conversation and new perspectives,” shared another recent attendee. By helping caregivers to identify new resources and support, the program is designed to help displace out-of-pocket care costs and lower financial worry.
Caregivers to a family member living with dementia can participate for free in CONFIDENCE through October 2023. We recommend having reliable access to a computer or tablet and internet to get the most from this program. CONFIDENCE is offered by the University of Southern California’s Family Caregiver Support Program as a part of a grant by AARP Foundation. Latino caregivers may also be eligible to participate in an optional research study conducted at Case Western Reserve University’s Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing.
For more information about the program or the research study, please contact Kylie Meyer, PhD, at knm77@case.edu or call 216-368-1928. You can also register for an upcoming program online at: https://www.eventbrite.com/o/usc-family-caregiver-support-program-41865278813