 |
|
Selected Accomplishments 1994 – 2006
Origins of NFCA
In 1991 when long-time friends, Suzanne Mintz and Cindy Fowler, took a weekend respite from their caregiving responsibilities, Suzanne’s for her husband with MS and Cindy’s for her mom with Parkinson’s, they discovered the similarities in their issues and concerns, despite the differences in their caregiving situations. They began publishing the newsletter TAKE CARE! in 1992 and founded NFCA in 1993 as an organization focused on addressing the issues and concerns common to all family caregivers.
Achievements:
- Development of a self-advocacy philosophy for family caregivers, tested with family caregivers and shown to enhance family caregiver confidence and pro-active behavior.
- At a time when family caregiving was thought of solely as an aging issue, NFCA spoke about caregiving across the lifespan. Today the lifespan concept has been adopted by the other major caregiving organizations as well as the U.S. Department of Aging.
- Creation of a nationally recognized month in honor of family caregivers, which is proclaimed by presidents, governors, and mayors, acknowledged on health and media calendars, and celebrated in communities across the county. National Family Caregivers (NFC) Month is celebrated every November and is one of NFCA’s major public awareness initiatives.
- Gave life to the conversation around family caregiving by putting flesh on abstract statistics and introducing the media to caregiving families and exponentially expanding coverage.
- A reputation as a highly respected spokesperson for family caregivers called upon by the media, Congress, both Republican and Democratic administrations, corporate America, service organizations, researchers, and providers assisting family caregivers.
- Establishment of a peer-to-peer volunteer network, the Caregiver Community Action Network (CCAN) to combat isolation and increase awareness of resources among family caregivers by harnessing the authenticity that comes from “having been there”.
- Development of a curriculum and training program shown to positively impact family caregivers’ abilities to communicate effectively with healthcare professionals; the program received a “Project of National Significance grant under the U.S. Department of Aging’s National Family Caregiver Support Program and was recently piloted in teleconference format for delivery in the workplace.
- A multi-year public education campaign to expand family caregiver self-identification. Project is still underway. Components include: initial research into why family caregivers don’t self identify, development and testing of messages to break that barrier, the campaign itself including radio PSAs, PR and marketing, and a go-to web site for new family caregivers. PSAs had the highest pick-up of any campaign in the distributors history. Evaluation of the campaign’s impact is now being conducted.
- Awareness to Action, a two-year program of regional town hall meetings to bring NFCA closer to family caregivers and engage them in conversation about critical issues facing them, culminating in the first ever National Town Hall Meeting on Capitol Hill.
- Changing the language of caregiving from what is known in academic communities as “informal” caregivers to family caregivers. The term family caregiver has been adopted as the official wording of the National Health Council, which represents all of the nation’s voluntary health agencies (American Heart, Alzheimer’s etc. as well as other caregiving organizations.)
- Advanced public policy in support of family caregivers by developing (with others) Family Caregivers and Public Policy: Principals for Change, a document now endorsed by over 40 national organizations, and currently used as the underpinning for legislative proposals Helped gain passage of the National Family Caregiver Support Program and the Lifespan Respite Care Act.
About NFCA’s president and co-founder Suzanne Mintz
- Ms. Mintz is the author of Love, Honor, & Value: A Family Caregiver Speaks Out About the Choices and Challenges of Caregiving (Capitol Books. 2002) Reviews from family caregivers talk about it transforming their lives. A revised edition is planned for the fall of 2007.
- She is the recipient of the 2004 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Eli Lilly Welcome Back Awards program celebrating courage and achievement in the depression community.
- In the fall of 2006, Ms. Mintz was named one of the nation’s most accomplished social entrepreneurs over sixty by Civic Ventures, a San Francisco based think tank. The award was given to her for her achievements in giving a voice to America’s family caregivers. Fifteen individuals received the prize out of an original list of 1,200 nominees.
|
