Aging & Disability Resource Center

The Family Caregiver Support Program is designed to benefit you in your caregiver role. Services are designed to meet the individual needs of caregivers and their situation. This program connects you with the right information and available community resources for your particular caregiving needs. Services include information and assistance, respite care and other supplemental services.

Options Counselors in our Aging and Disability Resource Center understand the emotional strain and stresses of caregiving and are available to listen to concerns and answer questions. Options Counselors have access to a resource database of health and human service providers and can provide information and assistance/referral to elder care resources in Southern Indiana. Please visit our Options Counselors’ page for more information.

WHO IS A CAREGIVER?

A caregiver provides assistance to another who is experiencing limitations in one or more daily activities. These activities may include: bathing, grooming, meal preparation, grocery shopping, transportation, medication management, feeding, and/or walking. Caregivers are also providing kinship care and raising children not their own.

Caregiving may be short term or it may happen over a long period of time. Some people become caregivers gradually while to others, it happens overnight. It depends on the disease, disability, or the reason a child’s parents may no longer be able to care for them.

Those caring for another in the above situations who are unpaid are considered Informal Caregivers or Family Caregivers. These individuals provide help or arrange help for another. Assistance can be provided on a full-time or part-time basis, and the caregiver may or may not live with the person requiring help.

If you have identified yourself as a family or informal caregiver, help is available through the Family Caregiver Support Program to assist you in your role.