Who Cares for the Caregivers? The North Country Needs Long-Term Solutions Now

Letter to the Editor: Submitted by Colleen Salisbury, CWRC Outreach Coordinator 

Across New York’s North Country, thousands of family members quietly shoulder the care of loved ones every day — aging parents, disabled spouses, children with special needs. They manage medications, appointments, and personal care while juggling work, family, and their own health.

Family caregivers are the invisible workforce holding up our health system. In New York, more than 4.1 million people provide unpaid care valued at $39 billion each year. Yet too often, they’re left to navigate complex medical systems and daily challenges without training, respite, or recognition.

The Caregiver Wellness and Respite Center (CWRC) is one of the lifelines for North Country caregivers. Along with programs like the CWRC and CP of the North Country, it offers short-term respite, education, and support — brief moments of relief that can make the difference between stability and burnout.

But these programs, as vital as they are, aren’t enough. They rely on limited funding and temporary grants. What we need are long-term solutions — policies that embed caregiver support into the very structure of our health-care and community systems.

That starts with changing hospital and health-care procedures to recognize caregivers as essential members of the care team. Before a patient is discharged, every hospital and clinic should be required to develop a caregiver and caregiving plan — one that identifies who will provide care at home, ensures that person receives basic training, and connects them to respite and community resources.

Caregivers are often handed complex medical tasks — wound care, medication management, mobility assistance — with no preparation and little follow-up. It’s time for health-care systems to care for caregivers, too. Including them in discharge planning isn’t just compassionate; it prevents readmissions, reduces costs, and leads to better outcomes for patients and families alike.

The urgency is growing. The North Country’s population over age 60 is projected to increase by nearly 25 percent in the next decade, outpacing available services. Without sustainable state funding and stronger caregiver-inclusive policies, our rural health system will be overwhelmed.

To state and local lawmakers: we need permanent funding for respite and caregiver training programs, investment in a rural care workforce, and policies that make caregiver inclusion in care planning standard practice — not an afterthought.

To our community: check in on the caregivers around you. A simple offer of help or a phone call can make a world of difference. And most importantly, use your voice — advocate for policies that protect those who protect everyone else.

When we care for caregivers, we strengthen the health, dignity, and resilience of the entire North Country.