Finding a Way: Ethnic and Cultural Aspects of Multi-Generational Caregiving

On June 6^th Yeshiva University students, alumni, educators, joined community agency staffs and administrators for the Annual Aging Conference on caregiving. As in past years, the consortium of sponsoring organizations included Wurzweiler School of Social Work, Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology, the Benjamin N. Cardozo Law School, and the Washington Heights & Inwood Council on Aging and Bronx Regional Interagency Council on Aging.

Evelyn Laureano, PhD., a Wurzweiler alumna, emphasized the importance of caregiving in her opening remarks.

Caregiving has always been a universal experience… In this day and age, caregiving has become more than a personal family issue, it is a social cause, an essential element of out health and long-term care system and a concern to policymakers, politicians, employers, insurers, and health care providers.

A panel of experts, caregivers and care recipients spoke about their personal experiences and engaged in questions and dialogue with the conference participants.

Topics covered included

• cultural variations in providing and receiving care,
• the impact on nursing home placement on both giver and recipient of care,
• caregiving at a distance,
• and immigrant caregiving.

These and other topics continued to be discussed in small groups. (Watch for a follow-up on these discussions later in the summer).