Detroit News, DPTV report on Michigan's caregiving crisis
Detroit Public Television featured Detroit News reporting in its "One Detroit" series and focused on the crisis of caregiving in Michigan and the responsibility that those with aging loved ones may inevitably face.
DPTV Senior Producer Bill Kubota joined Detroit News reporters Hayley Harding and Sarah Rahal and explored their recent story: "Caregivers in Michigan are reaching a breaking point."
The reporters spent time with caregivers Nakia Gaither, Doria Rainey and Rosa Eileen Hunter, who look after aging mothers. They candidly share the life adjustments that come with being a primary caregiver along with the emotional, physical and financial challenges that are attached.
The reporters also spoke with leading experts in caregiving locally and nationally — Bea Rector with the Washington State Aging and Long-Term Support Administration, Dana Lasenby with Oakland Community Health Network and Rita Choula with AARP’s Public Policy Institute — about ways caregivers can receive support, identifying resources and potential solutions other states have adopted that could provide a pathway to easing the financial burdens or discrimination caregivers may face.
Due to a lack of data surrounding caregivers in Michigan, The News was involved in the surveying of 500 caregivers showing that often Metro Detroit caregivers who need help the most receive the least in terms of support and resources. The survey was done as part of an effort sponsored by the New York & Michigan Solutions Journalism Collaborative, of which The News and DPTV are members.
The collaborative focuses on not only identifying problems but reporting potential solutions from around the nation. The collaborative also has compiled a detailed Caregiving Resource Guide with links to online information about various issues of interest to caregivers.
The Detroit News has also published:
→ Michigan's most vulnerable rescued by kinship caregivers