During our discussion, we talked about how technology will become a really helpful tool for family caregivers. So, I’d love to know: What technology do you currently use? Have you considered using technology, such as a Personal Emergency Response System or a fall detection device? What do you wish technology could do that it currently doesn’t?

We ended our show with an update from Ryan about Caregiver Relief Fund, which provides free respite services for family caregivers. If you live in Illinois, Indiana, California, Michigan or New York, you can fill out an application to get a break here. And, you can learn about the organization via the video, below.

Related Articles

• Council of Caregivers Answers the Question: How Do I Train to Endure Caregiving? (caregiving.com)

The premise is simple: Provide relief so family caregivers have time and rest. The relief comes in the form of vouchers redeemed for in-home care provided by a local home care agency.

Family caregivers can receive vouchers by apply for help at the Caregiver Relief Funds’s website. When approved, the family caregiver receives the voucher for a set amount of hours of service (i.e., a companion sitter for three or four hours) and the contact information for the local home care agency supplying the companion sitter or home health aide.

The respite care is provided at no cost to the family caregiver. Donations, sometimes from the local home care agency, cover the cost of care. Currently, the organization serves family caregivers in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and California.

Michael’s parents 12-year caregiving experience inspired the organization. The idea is not new; the state of Oklahoma operates a program called the Respite Voucher Program. The idea of a privately-organized solution like this for family caregivers is.

Michael looks to other successful social ventures, like Room to Read, as his model for The Caregiver Relief Fund. Room to Read, a non-profit promoting and enabling global education, opened five libraries in 2000, its first year of operation. Its libraries now number 9,196.

We can change the world, one person at a time. We change caregiving, too, one person at a time.