Senator Kelly Urges Support for Family Caregivers

At a press conference in Hartford at the Legislative Office Building, Sen. Kelly joins fellow lawmakers and advocates to show support for family caregivers.

Senator Kelly joins advocates and legislators in support of the CARE Act. From left to right: Nora Duncan, AARP State Director; Senator Martin Looney (D-New Haven); Senator Kevin Kelly (R-Stratford); Senator Tony Hwang (R-Fairfield)

Hartford – State Senator Kevin Kelly joined fellow lawmakers to pledge support for the CARE Act in Connecticut. The Caregiver, Advise, Record, and Enable (CARE) Act is designed to empower and educate caregivers to better help them care for their loved ones and to make it easier for people to age in place.

At a press conference in Hartford on Tuesday February 10, Sen. Kelly joined a bipartisan group of legislators, AARP, and the state chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association to share his support for a bill that would enact the CARE Act in CT.

“As we age, we all want to age in place. But I don’t believe we can do that without a champion in the community that’s going to help us. The caregiver represents that champion,” Kelly said at the press conference.

“Caregivers are our loved ones who go above and beyond to make it possible for us to remain in our homes as we age. They give so much. The CARE Act will give back to them by making sure their needs are met and they feel confident in the care they can provide,” said Kelly

The act would help support the needs of unpaid family caregivers by requiring hospitals to keep caregivers informed and help them prepare to properly care for their loved ones. The act would specifically accomplish the following:

1) provide each patient with the opportunity to designate a caregiver upon the patient’s admission to the hospital;
2) notify the designated caregiver if the patient is to be discharged to another facility or back to his or her home; and
3) provide the caregiver with instructions on how to perform medication management, wound care, injections or other medical tasks for the patient when the patient returns home.

According to the Legislative Commission on Aging, the estimated economic impact of almost 500,000 caregivers across the state is approximately $5.8 billion.

To learn more about AARP’s national effort to bring attention to the importance of caregivers visit https://act.aarp.org/iheartcaregivers/.