With approximately 52 million Americans serving as caregivers today, the need for fast, useful information has never been higher. While there are dozens of sites that offer good caregiving information, here are a few I've found to be particularly helpful.
AGIS.com: Short for Assist Guide Information Services, this is a fabulous Web resource for caregivers. At www.agis.com, you can get information on topics such as home care, daily living aides, long-term care solutions, support services, legal and financial help and more.
It also lets you ask questions, links you to other caregivers for support and information, and offers a variety of checklists that suggest tips on what to do as a caregiver and how to do it.
Caring.com: Relatively new on the scene, www.caring.com is another wonderful site that offers tons of practical information, articles, caregiving to-do lists, links to local resources and much more.
The Family Caregiver Alliance: This is the oldest and perhaps most respected organization that's helped serve the needs of caregivers. They also have a dandy Web site (www.caregiver.org) that offers a Family Care Navigator map that lists a broad range of caregiving services in each state.
Family Caregiving 101: Created by the National Family Caregivers Association and the National Alliance for Caregiving, www.familycaregiving101.org is a great site for finding assistance, answers, new ideas and helpful advice for you and the person you're caring for.
AARP: At www.aarp.org/family/caregiving, you can find tips and worksheets and on a wide range of issues including long-distance caregiving, as well as access their Caregiving Tool Kit.Strength for Caring: Sponsored by Johnson & Johnson, this site (www.strengthforcaring.com) provides tip sheets on fitness and nutrition for caregivers, balancing work and family, respite care, reducing stress, caring for specific conditions and home safety. To help with your caregiving/Medicare questions, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services recently created a new Web site called Ask Medicare. At www.medicare.gov/caregivers you can find out what Medicare and Medicaid will cover, search for and compare home care and long-term care options and much more. Caring for a person with Alzheimer's disease or some other form of dementia can present some unique and difficult challenges. To help, a top resource is the Alzheimer's Association (www.alz.org, or call 800-272-3900). It puts caregivers in touch with local resources, support groups, medical professionals and provides caregiving tips to handle every behavior and phase of the disease.
