Solving the family caregiving crisis

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Tracey S Lawrence

Grand Family Planning LLC, USA

: Int J Ment Health Psychiatry

Abstract

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The Problem: With 10,000 people turning 65 each day in the USA alone, the population is living longer. And sicker, 70% of those people turning 65 will suffer a long term care event requiring assistance from another human being. 5.7 million People in the US have dementia of the Alzheimer’s type. About 15.7 million adult family caregivers care for someone who has Alzheimer’s disease or other dementia. Approximately 39.8 million caregivers provide care to adults (aged 18+) with a disability or illness, or 16.6% of Americans. Elderly spousal caregivers (aged 66–96) who experience caregiving-related stress have a 63% higher mortality rate than non-caregivers of the same age. “Medical errors” in hospitals and other health-care facilities are incredibly common and may now be the third-leading cause of death in the United States, claiming 251,000 lives every year, more than respiratory disease, accidents, stroke and Alzheimer’s.

Our Mission: Enable quality of life through education and implementation, Establish a data collection system that is secure, HIPAA compliant, enabling premium self-care, enlightened caregiving, effective and timely treatment, as well as research data that can lead to cures and new enabling technologies Facilitate collaboration between medical and professional communities and the consumers they serve, Keep people at home where they thrive longer.

Approach: Form a Community; our concept is to create a model that brings all interested and appropriate individuals and organizations together to work collaboratively on the solution. Sharing of data, insights, methodologies and other ideas will be accessible to all. Information gathered will be maintained under HIPAA compliant standards.

Biography

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Tracey S. Lawrence is the Founder of Grand Family Planning LLC and author of “Dementia Sucks: A Caregiver’s Journey – With Lessons Learned.” Having been a caregiver to two parents who succumbed to dementia, as well as her husband, a cancer survivor, he has a unique perspective on the issues surrounding caregiving and the challenges of staying healthy and productive under extreme pressure and stress. She started Grand Family Planning in 2014, while her mother was in hospice. Realizing that millions would be facing the same struggles she had endured, she conceived of a team approach to coaching families through life transitions and health crises. During her time caring for her mother, he kept a journal, which formed the basis for her groundbreaking work, released by Post Hill Press in May 2015. His commitment to raising awareness of the growing family caregiving epidemic drives her business and her professional speaking programs.

E-mail: tracey@grandfamilyplanning.com