U.S.A. Gov Helps Long-Distance Caregivers through Caring from a Distance Link

Washington, D.C (PRWEB) November 17, 2007 -- USA.gov, the U.S. government's official web portal, now links to Caring from a Distance (www.cfad.org), a web site dedicated to the seven million Americans who manage the needs of seniors who live hundreds or thousands of miles away.

A CBS poll earlier this year found that four in ten who have had the experience of caring for aging parents say issues involving care can be stressful and can lead to disputes among family members.

Caring from a Distance was founded to bring caregivers seeking help needed information and resources at-a-glance. Our goal is to utilize a range of communication and social networking technology to reduce caregiver stress through improved family communication.

Features include tips and toolkits, a secure place to store vital information for emergencies, a Washington D.C. metro area service directory with detailed searchable information for 2600 providers, and access to hundreds of national resources. Viewers can access free Senior HelpLine information specialists to discuss complex needs, and arrangements can be made for multi-party phone conferences.

In October, 2007, CFAD's Executive Director, Nora Jean Levin, launched a private message board to share tips, answer queries and create an interactive platform for a distance caregiver discussion forum. The blog is registered on CarePages.com under the name "longdistancecaregiving." CarePages is a social network service which helps families stay in touch and share updates through free access to private personalized web pages. It is helpful when communicating with remote family attempting to monitor health emergencies from afar. The service is secure and compliant with all HIPPA requirements. Visitors are protected on-line through strict privacy policies, password-protection and visitor management tools.

CFAD's content is independent and objective. It accepts no funding or advertising from individual elder care providers. Local partners include the Jewish Council for the Aging and the Guide to Retirement Living.

About Caring from a Distance (CFAD)

Founded in 2002, CFAD is a not-for-profit organization based in Washington D.C. Its mission is to help long distance caregivers make well-informed and timely medical and social decisions, and to maximize the well-being of those they care for by connecting website visitors directly to the wide spectrum of information and the resources they may need. With a pilot program in Metro Washington, D.C., CFAD has adopted as its model a secure web-based application for nation-wide database searches, family-to-expert blogs, critical medical information storage and professional articles. CFAD is supported by foundation grants, on-line donations and many individuals. It is widely recognized by groups such as the American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging.

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