Progress in Military Caregiver Programs

There are fresh green shoots of programs meant to aid caregivers in the military. The Yellow Ribbon Fund has a wonderful program to provide additional services to injured and disabled troops returning from war, aimed at helping them and their families adjust to living with a disability as a unit. YRF also has a Caregiver Program to help train family members who are providing care for a disabled veteran.

However, this program seems a little too focused on the woman-as- caregiver and man-as-patient juxtaposition. Even the language used on the site is gendered, conveying the assumption that the caregiver will be a flawless wife caring for her injured man -- a perfect Florence Nightingale virtuously devoted to his recovery and needs. The caregivers' respite program, which coordinates events stereotypically adored by women, such as shopping trips and salon days, ignores the existence of male caregivers (although I bet that some men would greatly appreciate the free massages offered monthly).

Long term hospital stays often require relocation for military families, and, to its credit, the Yellow Ribbon Fund is reaching out to help ease this transition. Caregivers need time to relax and unwind from the stress of providing daily needs for injured family members, which this program provides -- but gendered assumptions have the dual effect of erasing women's achievements in the Armed Forces and men's roles as caregivers. The Yellow Ribbon Fund's program is a terrific start, but it's not enough.

In the political arena, however, comes exciting news from the Senate regarding military caregivers.

The other day I mentioned the harm done by demanding that women take on the caregiver role without compensation. Just last month, the Senate spearheaded a bill, championed by Daniel Akaka (D-HI), that zipped through the Veteran's Affairs Committee at almost neck-break speed (as Senate affairs go), then passed the Senate with a 98-0 vote. Senate Bill 1963, the Caregiver and Veteran's Omnibus Health Services Act of 2009, acknowledges that disabled veterans will very likely need caregiver services, and that those services, even if provided by a family member -- sometimes especially if provided by a family member -- will require compensation and support.

The Bill allows for a family member to receive the tools needed to care for a long-term injured or disabled veteran, including appropriate training, a modest monthly stipend, insurance, support, and respite. These are all part of the social and emotional needs that we should be prepared to offer a family caregiver.

The bill now awaits passage by the House, but after seeing overwhelming support in the Senate, prospects are good. This is exciting news for women, both because this work often falls on women as unpaid labor, and because, as women join the ranks of the combat wounded, it will be a good step toward getting them the specific care they will need. It is nice to see something productive and helpful come out of Congress with full bi-partisan support once in a while.

Photo Credit: David Paul Ohmer on Flickr