Introduction
Increasingly, people in the Columbia community have responsibility for the care of adults and elders due to illness or disability are unable to fully care for themselves. The information below highlights programs and policies available at Columbia that may assist caregivers, as well as links to many local, state, and federal organizations with helpful resources and information.
Additionally, please visit our bulletin board to post and share information and ideas about adult and elder care.
Adult and Elder Care Services are provided through the Employee Assistance Program (EAP). The EAP provides a range of specialized services, including short-term counseling, to help you and your household members with the management of adult/elder care responsibilities. All services are provided by Harris Rothenberg, International at no cost to you or your family. Harris Rothenberg's counselors are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Contact: Call the EAP at 888-673-1153 to receive customized referrals to adult and elder care resources or providers nationwide, or visit their website (username: columbia; password: eap) to access a library of resources.
Eligibility: The EAP is available to faculty, researchers, administrators and staff who are eligible to receive medical benefits from Columbia.
Below are some additional programs, benefits, and policies available that may assist you with adult and elder care.
- Employee Assistance Program (EAP): In addition to adult and elder care services, the EAP provides a range of specialized services, including short-term counseling, to help you and your household members cope with everyday issues such as stress, relationships, depression, and drug/alcohol addiction. All services are provided by Harris Rothenberg, International at no cost to you or your family. Harris Rothenberg's counselors are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at 888-673-1153. The EAP is available to faculty, researchers, administrators and staff who are eligible to receive medical benefits from Columbia.
- Back-Up Care Program: Provides professionally qualified caregivers at a minimal cost to you when normal arrangements are disrupted and/or when you need to provide short-term care.
- Long-Term Care Insurance: Can help you and your family pay some of the costs associated with long-term nursing home or home health care services that are not covered by traditional medical insurance or Medicare.
- Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA): Requires that an eligible employee must be granted up to twelve weeks of leave during any twelve-month period to care for his/herself, a parent, a spouse/partner, or a child with a serious health condition.
- Leave of Absence for Compelling Personal Need (For Officers of Instruction Only): Full-time faculty may request a leave of absence without salary to deal with a compelling personal need. Longer periods of leave are granted at the discretion of the Provost on the recommendation of the appropriate department chair, dean, or vice president. Personal leaves are generally limited to a maximum of one year, but the Provost may authorize extensions on the recommendation of the department chair, dean, or vice president.
- AARP is the largest non-profit membership organization for adults age 50 and older. It offers its members a wide range of information about life transitions, independent living, caregiving and many other topics, including Alzheimers.
- Agenet Eldercare Network offers information on a full range of topics including health, financial, legal, caregiver, housing.
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Aging Parents and Eldercare is a user-friendly website that walks you through the first steps of becoming a caregiver, provides a glossary of terms, offers checklists to help you assess your aging parent or loved one, identifies issue specific and general websites, and more.
- Assisted Living Directory provides a detailed listing of assisted living facilities, organized by state, and then by city.
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Benefits Check-up is a service of the National Council on the Aging and provides an easy online assessment of eligibility and access to the full range of benefit programs. New York City residents may prefer to use the NYC Department on Aging's QuickCheck online tool.
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Caregiving.com is for and about caregiving. The site provides guidance for individuals new to caregiving, identifies resources, and links you to on and off-line support groups.
- Careguide at Home helps seniors and their caregivers manage all aspects of caregiving including long distance caregiving, talking with health care professional, balancing work and eldercare, and legal and financial planning.
- Caring Connection formerly Partnership for Caring, provides easy access to state-specific health care proxy and living will documents.
- Family Caregiver Alliance - National Center on Caregiving offers fact sheets on caregiver issues and strategies in English, Spanish and Chinese. Guides on long-distance caregiving, LGBT family issues and caregiving, and more are also available.
- FRIA offers several advocacy and educational programs for caregivers, as well as, a free, bilingual help line for those seeking advice about long term care.
- National Association of Professional Geriatric Care Managers (GCM) is an association of professional practitioners trained in gerontology, social work, nursing, and/or counseling who specialize in assisting older people and their families in meeting their long-term care arrangements. Use the website's search engine to find a member where your adult dependent lives.
- The Greater New York Chapter of the National Association of Professional Geriatric Care Managers' helpful links section is invaluable to New York residents.
- New York City Resources for Elder Care are identified and discussed in a New York Magazine article.
- New York State Housing Guide for Seniors outlines the variety of housing benefits and programs available to seniors in New York State.
- Planning Your Health Care in Advance (PDF) a publication of the New York State Office of the Attorney General answers questions about health care proxies and living wills.
- New York State Office of the Aging provides rich information about aging services and supports available in New York for the elderly and caregiver alike including housing options, driver safety information, adult day services, and more. Offices of the Aging are found in all states across the country.
- Elder Law Answers offers consumer and professional information on the full-range of issues including legal, financial, and Medicare/Medicaid. Individuals will find the site's glossary of terms especially helpful. The site also includes as search engine to identify an elder lawyer in your area.
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The information resources on this page were adapted, with permission, from New York University's Human Resources/Family Care website, 7/08.
