AMES, Iowa -- With baby boomers reaching retirement age, Americans living longer and institutional care so costly, family caregiving is an emerging major social and economic concern in the United States.

The topic is so far-reaching and complex that it’s a natural for cooperation among federal, state and local institutions and agencies as well as experts in academic disciplines to provide information and guidance for consumers.

Iowa State University Extension specialist Kyle Kostelecky is the leader for rural family caregiving on the national eXtension Web site. He works with faculty and extension specialists from Iowa State, as well as across the country, to provide objective, research-based information and educational materials.

eXtension is affiliated with Cooperative Extension, a nationwide educational network. Each U.S. state and territory has a state office at its land-grant university and a network of local or regional offices.

The eXtension family caregiving resource provides knowledge and resources for any adult providing care for someone older than 18 who is frail, disabled or unable to care for himself or herself. The information is divided into eight areas: caregiving and disasters, employed caregivers, financial management, health, housing, nutrition, relationships and psychosocial well-being, and rural family caregiving.

“The family caregiving section has some interactive components such as a list of conditions a potential caregiver may observe in the person he or she is caring for. By working through the list, checking some boxes and getting instant feedback from eXtension, that caregiver may have a better understanding of how to approach the care he or she is providing,” Kostelecky explained.

Nationally millions of family caregivers provide billions of dollars worth of care to loved ones each year according to an AARP study released in June. AARP estimates the economic value of family caregiving at $350 billion in 2006. In Iowa, the estimated value of this care is $3.5 billion, which is about 3.5 times what Iowa spends on Medicaid for long-term care.

eXtension is an educational partnership that brings experts together to share resources. The family caregiving resource area is one of many within this national initiative of more than 70 land-grant universities. Other eXtension information focuses on agrosecurity and floods; beef cattle; cotton; dairy; diversity across higher education; entrepreneurs and their communities; gardens, lawns and landscapes; geospatial technologies; horses; imported fire ants; livestock and poultry environmental learning centers; parenting; personal finance; science, engineering and technology for youth; and wildlife damage management. Additional interest areas will be added this year.

The national launch of eXtension is Feb. 21 and 22 during the 2008 USDA Agricultural Outlook Forum. eXtension, http://www.extension.org, is customized with links to local extension sites. Land-grant universities were founded on the ideals that higher education should be accessible to all, that universities should teach liberal and practical subjects and share knowledge with people throughout their states.

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