WA Cares Fund Webinars

WA Cares has kicked off a new series of webinars to discuss issues related to caregiving and long-term care and provide some information on the WA Cares Fund. The first webinar in June focused on Caregiving and the LGBTQ+ Community. July’s webinar addressed the Gender Gap in Caregiving.

Each webinar featured guest panelists who spoke about their expertise and experience in these areas. WA Cares would like to extend a special thank you to all the panelists who helped make these events worthwhile learning experiences for us all!

Interested in more events like these? The WA Cares team will be hosting another webinar in August to talk about Long-Term Care Planning for Near Retirees! Check out the website and sign up for the mailing list to learn more.

Caregiving and the LGBTQ+ Community

On June 28, WA Cares staff were joined by a wonderful panel of experts to discuss caregiving and aging in the LGBTQ+ community. You can watch the recording in full here.

The webinar panel included:

• Hannah Dahlke, Member, LGBTQ+ Seniors of the Inland NW
• Ruben Rivera-Jackman, Trainer, National Resource Center on LGBTQ+ Aging
• Steven Knipp, Executive Director, GenPride
• Janice Emery, Founding Board Member, Northwest LGBT Senior Care Providers Network

LGBTQ+ individuals make up a significant portion of our aging population – about 2.7 million people. This population is expected to double by 2030 and unfortunately will likely face barriers to receiving high quality, compassionate and culturally sensitive care. Some facts:

• LGBTQ+ adults are four times less likely to have children and twice as likely to be single as their non-LGBTQ+ counterparts. Considering that when older adults need care, they almost always turn to relatives first, this presents a significant challenge for LGBTQ+ adults.
• 21% of LGBTQ+ people have provided care to non-family members or friends, and are more likely to take on caregiving roles than their non-LGBTQ+ counterparts.
• More than 80% of LGBTQ+ people have experienced discrimination in their lifetime. These experiences make individuals less likely to seek medical care, be out with their medical team or maintain broad social networks.
• 34% of LGBTQ+ adults worry about having to hide their identities to access senior housing.

The Gender Gap in Caregiving

On July 19, WA Cares staff hosted another webinar, with panelists:

• Jessica Gomez Barrios, Political and Advocacy Coordinator, Service Employees International Union (SEIU) 775
• Maggie Humphreys, Washington State MomsForce Director, Moms Rising
• Lunell Haught, President, Washington State League of Women Voters

Unpaid caregiving accounts for 85% of all elder care in the United States, and the bulk of unpaid or informal caregiving roles are taken on by women. The COVID-19 pandemic has only exacerbated this long-standing gap, taking and keeping women out of the workforce, lessening their economic opportunity and making gender gaps in many parts of society worse as a result.  All three organizations represented during this webinar agreed that programs like WA Cares, better pay for caregivers and civic action were all needed to make caregiving more equitable in society. Watch the webinar in full here to hear directly from the panelists!

WA Cares is so thankful to have had to opportunity to host both of these panels of experts to gain insight into their lived experiences and how we can all work toward more equitable outcomes for older adults and caregivers.  

About WA Cares

WA Cares Fund is a first-in-the-nation universal long-term care insurance program that provides working Washingtonians with access to affordable long-term care. By paying a small premium while working (just 0.58% of wages, or $0.58 per $100 earned), Washington’s workers will earn a $36,500 benefit that can be used for a variety of long-term care services, including paid caregiving from a professional or loved one, home modifications, meal delivery and more.