Latest news with #OtsukaAmericaPharmaceutical
Yahoo
5 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Getting help: neurodiversity, aging, addiction and mental illness
The National Institute of Mental Health counts mental illnesses among common maladies not just in the U.S., but around the world, estimating that as much as 23% of the adult U.S. population faces mental challenges. Approximately 53 million Americans are family caregivers, providing varying degrees of support to relatives and loved ones because of disease, disability or simple frailty. Last October, the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and Otsuka America Pharmaceutical did a study that concluded that if family caregiving was a business, 'it would be the largest revenue-generating company in the world,' providing $873.5 billion worth of labor each year. Close to 40% of that is due to Alzheimer's disease or dementia care, though only a quarter of those caregivers face that particular challenge. Neurodiversity, addiction, aging and mental health are all issues with some challenges where families may find they need some help or suggestions or simply access to a support group. A few weeks ago, a team of Deseret News reporters set out to explore some of the issues impacting families across that spectrum of issues. Today, we offer those stories with links in case you missed them earlier. The importance of sensory awareness with autism Learning disorders and decades of progress Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder and new approaches Why caregivers can't do it all alone Aging well: preserving your brain with food, exercise and sleep What we're learning about Alzheimer's disease Anxiety and depression are very, very old problems How states are tackling social media and smartphone use in schools What do you do with debilitating fear? Healing addiction through power of community, compassion and hope. How addiction impacts the brain
USA Today
21-05-2025
- Health
- USA Today
'More pressure on families.' Nearly half of US states are on the brink of a caregiving emergency
'More pressure on families.' Nearly half of US states are on the brink of a caregiving emergency Show Caption Hide Caption Who is on Medicaid? The popular program could be on the chopping block 72 million people in the U.S. are enrolled in Medicaid, the federal and state health insurance program for those who are disabled or low income. Aisha Adkins, 40, barely had a chance to breathe between her mother's death and her father's vascular dementia diagnosis, both of which happened in 2023. Adkins, of Georgia, cared for her mother for a decade after her mom was diagnosed with frontotemporal degeneration dementia. At first, caring for her mom meant reminding her to turn off the stove after cooking and assisting with the laundry. Later, Adkins said, it meant bathing her, dressing her and feeding her. Being a full-time family caregiver also meant putting some of her own needs to the side. She went several years without a job and without health insurance while caring for her mom. And Adkins said she's found it difficult to maintain friendships and other relationships while caring for her parents. Now, her father is her top priority. More: 'I don't know where to start.' Parents and caregivers are burned out. Who's most at risk? 'I would love to be married someday," Adkins said. "I don't know if that's something that will happen for me, just because caregiving is a full-time responsibility and not everyone has the capacity to understand what caregiving means, what it looks like and the sacrifice that it takes, and that they can't always be your No. 1 priority." A new study by Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health found nearly half of America's states are on the brink of a caregiving emergency, with the worst conditions being in the South. In the study, sponsored by Otsuka America Pharmaceutical, researchers developed a new scorecard to assess the urgency of local caregiving needs. States' scores are based on measures like the number of long-term care beds available, the number of paid health aids per resident, the percent of people over 65, the number of families paying more than 30% of their income toward housing, the AARP's long-term care rankings and the number of individuals with dementia in the state. From there, researchers grouped states into four categories: critical, high risk, safe for now and well-supported. Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Nevada, South Carolina and Tennessee are the states deemed critical and in need of immediate action. 'It's no surprise to us that every state has work to do to ensure the caregivers living in their states, along with those who need care, have what they need," said Nicole Jorwic, chief program officer for Caring Across Generations. "Family caregivers are often on the brink of catastrophe due to lack of support systems." Other research has pointed to worse health outcomes for people in Southern states, including a 2023 Alzheimer's Association study that found higher cases of Alzheimer's disease dementia in east and southeastern regions of the U.S. The Commonwealth Fund's 2023 Scorecard on State Health System Performance ranked states based on several factors including premature death rates and healthcare access and affordability. The lowest-scoring states in that report were Mississippi, West Virginia, Oklahoma, Texas and Arkansas. More: More than 7 million Americans have Alzheimer's. Research cuts could slow the fight. 'We're just placing more and more pressure on families to take care of their loved ones," said John McHugh, lead researcher and adjunct assistant professor of health policy and management at Columbia. 'We're asking more and more of individuals without providing any sort of support or compensation, or anything along those lines.' Jaeron Mickle, public information officer for Nevada's Aging and Disability Services Division, said the division helps unpaid family caregivers by providing financial support through state and federal programs and partnering with advocacy groups like the Nevada Lifespan Respite Care Coalition, which created the Nevada State Plan to Support Family Caregivers in 2022. "Each year, about $2.5 million is given to community organizations to offer respite care and other services for people over 60. In addition, the state is working on two federal grants under the Lifespan Respite Care Act to raise awareness and improve access to respite care in Nevada," Mickle wrote in an email to USA TODAY. Southern states have caregiver programming, but Medicaid expansion is crucial, experts say In South Carolina there are more than 125,000 people living with dementia, according to the state's Alzheimer's Disease Registry. "Four years ago, we knew to address the rising number of those being diagnosed with dementia and the countless hours of care our caregivers were providing, our agency needed to take a closer look at how to meet these demands," Connie Munn, director of the South Carolina Department of Aging said in an email to USA TODAY. That's why the department established the Caregiver and Alzheimer's Resource Division, Munn said. The state also established a Family Caregiver Support Program in 2001 that "placed an emphasis on respite" to support family caregivers. In 2022, the state launched a Dementia Care Specialist program aimed at providing education and support to those living with dementia and their family caregivers. The state has plans to expand the program this year, Munn said. "This program is strategically placed within our communities to allow those with early diagnosis, as well as family members, to have a place to go for resources within their local communities," Munn said. But South Carolina, like several other states in the South, is one of 10 states that didn't adopt the Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act. Medicaid helps caregivers just as much as it helps patients, said Christina Irving, client services director for the Family Caregiver Alliance. "Medicaid provides crucial home and community-based services that are vital to family caregivers and the people they care for," Irving said. "These programs help older adults and people with disabilities stay at home and out of institutions, and may even directly compensate family caregivers, especially important for those who had to leave their jobs to provide care." Jorwic said Medicaid is one of the most important systems for caregivers and its expansion "is a win/win for caregivers and the entire care system.' Caring Across Generations is one of 730 national, state and local organizations backing a letter to members of the House urging them to reject proposed Medicaid cuts in President Donald Trump's pending budget reconciliation package. The legislation is still far from the finish line. Once it gets through the gantlet of the House, it will have to go through committees and a floor vote in the Senate. Policy details may be tweaked at any point along the way. More: 'Don't f--- around with Medicaid': Trump works to clear out GOP opposition to policy bill "It's an imperfect program, but the only game in town when it comes to funding long-term care," Jorwic said of Medicaid. "The choice to not expand has a direct impact on the integrity of our systems and the well being of caregivers." Georgia didn't expand Medicaid, either, and the state also has one of the largest shortages of home health aides in the country, the Columbia report found. Adkins said "it was very difficult to access supports and services, particularly in the beginning," when her mom was first diagnosed. Her mother had a case worker, Adkins said, but there was so much turnover in the agency that it took years to make any progress in finding help. They were eventually able to secure in-home care, first at 20 hours per week and later at 40 hours per week, toward the end of her mom's life. Ellen Brown, communications director for the Georgia Department of Human Services, said the state's Division of Aging Services "prioritizes and supports caregivers in a number of ways," including community service providers contracted by the Area Agency on Aging, which connects families with in- and out-of-home respite care and caregiver support groups. The division also implemented a stress assessment for family caregivers, and there are a dozen dementia care specialists dispersed across the state to provide information and support to caregivers of people living with dementia. The Division of Aging Services also contracted with the University of North Georgia's Institute for Healthy Aging in 2025 to conduct the Georgia Respite Care Study. The project aims to provide policies, programs, and best practices in other Southeastern states "that could potentially be implemented in Georgia to help serve caregivers more effectively," Brown said. "The results of the study will help inform future data collection, program initiatives, and funding opportunities to improve and bolster the caregiver infrastructure in Georgia," Brown said. A spokesperson for the Alabama Department of Senior Services, too, said the department "is taking meaningful, proactive steps to address caregivers' needs, particularly helping caregivers caring for older adults, relative caregivers caring for grandchildren or other relative children, those impacted by dementia, and those impacted by the opioid epidemic." The Alabama CARES program has helped family caregivers since 2000, and the state also has an Area Agency on Aging like the one in Georgia. The state has various other partnerships to support caregivers, including programs that target caregivers for people with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias. What does the future of care look like? 'I would worry.' Adkins' experience isn't unique. And in nearly half of the country, McHugh said, any additional budget cuts to the healthcare system "could really push these states over the threshold into a full-blown crisis." 'A lot of it comes down to a much stronger policy environment around aging," he said. In the absence of state support, Adkins said she and other caregivers rely on each other. She recently launched an Instagram account, Caregivers Of Color Collective, that she hopes will encourage other family caregivers of color and lead them to helpful resources. More: A woman's retirement crisis: Between caregiving and gender wage gap, can they catch up? Adkins' father is in the early stages of dementia now. He mostly needs reminders to take his medicine and help finding misplaced keys. But Adkins knows his condition could progress quickly. Her father doesn't want her to go through the same challenges she did when she cared for her mother, and doesn't want Adkins to care for him full time. But Adkins said she's not sure she's comfortable with the alternative, which would be placing him in a short-staffed nursing home with high turnover. 'I would worry about his safety. I would worry about his ability to be cared for in a way that I would care for him," she said. "And so I wrestle, still, with what the future of care looks like.' Madeline Mitchell's role covering women and the caregiving economy at USA TODAY is supported by a partnership with Pivotal Ventures and Journalism Funding Partners. Funders do not provide editorial input. Reach Madeline at memitchell@ and @maddiemitch_ on X.
Forbes
01-05-2025
- Health
- Forbes
We Can No Longer Ignore The Value Of Caregiving
Every day, millions of Americans wake up to a second full-time job—a job they never applied for, never trained for, and receive no compensation for. While the role is rewarding in many ways, it grows more demanding by the day, often resulting in great personal and financial sacrifice. Featured caregiver is a paid collaborator of Otsuka America Pharmaceutical, Inc. Otsuka America Pharmaceutical, Inc. The conditions are ripe for burnout, with countless reports of depression, anxiety, and physical symptoms that manifest from chronic stress. As unbelievable as this job may seem, it's a reality for our country's 45 million unpaid caregivers. Despite their essential role in caring for their loved ones, they remain largely unseen. The sacrifices caregivers make are too often overlooked, leaving them without adequate training, financial support, or workplace protections that truly reflect their reality. But the longer we undervalue caregivers, the more the strain on all of us will continue. Caregivers carry an immense responsibility, one that they should never have to shoulder alone. And yet, our healthcare system rarely offers another choice. It's devastating that even one caregiver should go without support, but the reality is so much worse. The failure to support caregivers ripples from individuals to communities, threatening the stability of our workforce, healthcare system, and economy. As more caregivers are forced to leave their jobs or reduce their hours to care for their loved ones, businesses may face more turnover and less productivity. As more caregivers rely on their retirement funds, public assistance programs may face greater strain. And as caregivers' declining mental and physical health leads to increased medical needs, the overwhelmed facilities and uncompensated care costs could continue to burden a healthcare system that's already stretched thin. Otsuka America Pharmaceutical, Inc. Without more interventions, we may risk a future in which an aging population collides with an unsupported, unsustainable caregiving system—leaving families, businesses, and our government struggling to keep up. As a healthcare company, Otsuka is in constant dialogue with the patients and caregivers that we serve. Recently, our conversations with caregivers have found recurring themes: a lack of assistance, a lack of understanding by employers, and, despite the abundance of caregivers, a surprising lack of societal awareness for their struggles. To better understand the scale of this inequity and communicate it to our industry peers, we collaborated with Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health to conduct a study of the current caregiver landscape. I expected the findings to be compelling, but they turned out to be staggering. The report 'America's Unseen Workforce,' released in October 2024, revealed that 44.58 million US caregivers perform the equivalent of $873.5 billion worth of unpaid labor each year. That's $873,500,000,000. If family caregiving were a business entity, it would be the largest revenue-generating business in the world. But this 'company' isn't met with the excitement of an IPO or the urgency of a crashing stock—it's met with a shrug from those with the power to effectuate meaningful change. Otsuka America Pharmaceutical, Inc. Note: All company figures are as of June 30, 2024. These numbers will vary due to shifts in current market value. The $873.5 billion figure demonstrates the magnitude of family caregiving, but the impact on individuals is also felt in real dollars. The report found that caregivers who begin their duties at a younger age are at risk of facing a 40% to 90% deficit in retirement savings by age 65 compared to non-caregivers, requiring an additional 7 to 21 years of work to recoup the equivalent savings. Our report also found that caregiving-induced declines in health contribute an estimated $28.3 billion annually in healthcare costs. With our country's aging population, these costs are only going to increase. Homeownership and retirement may be out of reach for many, and the dip in consumer spending could impact entire industries. Despite the undeniable financial value that caregivers provide, protections that recognize their sacrifices are often absent from corporate benefits structures and national economic policies. Employers have the power—and the responsibility—to reshape how caregiving fits into the modern workplace. Comprehensive caregiver benefits, like flexible work arrangements, paid caregiver leave, and tailored mental health and financial planning resources, are essential. At Otsuka, we view these as investments not only in our employees but in our company's and society's futures. That's why we integrate our Caregiver Navigator program directly into our benefits structure—to ensure employees don't have to navigate these challenges alone—providing personalized care, emotional support, expert content, and local resources. It's our firm belief that the organizations that ignore these issues will be the first to fall behind. That said, this goes far beyond work. Our national and state governments have a critical responsibility to aid caregivers and incentivize other sectors to do the same. Expanding caregiver tax credits and prioritizing payment, training, respite care, and health benefits programs would provide much-needed financial relief and contribute to more systemic change. Featured caregiver is a paid collaborator of Otsuka America Pharmaceutical, Inc. Otsuka America Pharmaceutical, Inc. At Otsuka, we believe that standing with caregivers isn't just the right thing to do—it's an economic and social imperative. Otsuka's commitment goes beyond our workforce, and it should go beyond yours, too. In addition to our caregiver benefits program in collaboration with ianacare and continued caregiver advocacy, we're the lead, founding sponsor of Caregiving, a two-hour documentary for PBS portraying paid and unpaid caregivers navigating the challenges and joys of this deeply meaningful work. Intertwining intimate personal stories with the untold history of caregiving, the documentary reveals the state and the stakes of care in America today. The project, created with executive producer Bradley Cooper, premieres June 24 on PBS and is available to stream on May 27 on and the PBS App. It is the next feature film from the WETA award-winning Well Beings campaign, which addresses critical health needs in America. This is more than an economic or political crisis—it's a human one. At some point, many of us will become caregivers—or rely on one to care for us. Businesses, policymakers, and individuals all have a role to play in ensuring that caregivers are not just seen but valued. We have a choice: Continue to let their contributions go unnoticed or recognize family caregiving as the essential work that it is. Allow millions to struggle in silence or step up and create a future where caregivers and their loved ones are not left behind. The question is: Will we create a society that tangibly supports caregivers or will we take them for granted? Now is the time to act. I invite my fellow business leaders to join Otsuka in building a future where caregivers are seen, supported, and valued. Discover our caregiver commitment. Otsuka is a healthcare company driven by our purpose and defined by our beliefs. At Otsuka, we hold a deep respect for the value of every mind. We are dedicated to caring for caregivers—standing with them, the way they stand with their loved ones—and offering resources that may support their care for themselves and others. As we work to understand and share the stories of caregivers and support them on their journeys, we will continue advocating and calling for industry changes to improve their and their loved ones' quality of life. April 2025 01US25EUC0188
