María Aranda, a senior scientist at the USC Edward R. Roybal Institute on Aging and an associate professor at the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work, spoke on a panel at the AARP Solutions Forum – Families Caring for An Aging America: The Current Landscape and Opportunities for the Future, which was held in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 1, 2016.
Experts discussed the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine consensus report, Families Caring for an Aging America. Aranda was a member of the committee on family caregiving for older adults that produced the report. The expert committee called for public acknowledgment of caregiving families, and a transformation in policies and practices affecting them in their support and care of older adults with health and functional needs. They further recommended that the next presidential administration take immediate steps to address the health, economic and social issues facing family caregivers of older Americans.
Aranda said diverse populations (e.g., racial/ethnic minorities, LGBT individuals, people from more rural areas) should always be included in the caregiving conversation. She also said there was a need for more representation of diverse groups in population-based studies.