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Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

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Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

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Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

CARE Act: Training on Medical Tasks for MN Family Caregivers

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Monday, December 1, 2014   

ST. PAUL, Minn. - As the number of Minnesotans who are family caregivers continues to increase, also growing is the complexity of the medical tasks they're doing and that's something Minnesota lawmakers are being asked to address. When the Legislature convenes in 2015, they'll consider what's called the CARE Act. Mary Jo George, advocacy director with AARP Minnesota, says it aims to smooth the transition from hospital to home.

"To help these caregivers with training of tasks they are expected to do," George says. "One of the things we've learned is many family caregivers are performing nursing and medical tasks they do not have the proper training for."

George says the training under the CARE Act would cover areas such as injections, wound care and medication management. It would also ensure hospitals have a person's caregiver on record and they are notified upon transfer or discharge.

The need for such training and support is the focus this week AARP volunteers from across the state are meeting with their legislators ahead of the coming session. Among them will be Ken Zaiken of Rochester, who had family providing care during his health issues including a stem-cell transplant, a heart-valve replacement and several forms of cancer.

"The patient is focusing on themselves, trying to get themselves better," says Zaiken. "The caregiver has to deal with that plus maintain whatever the normal life is. If you've got a household with kids, if you've got dual-incomes and suddenly one is gone, these are all pressures that mainly fall on the caregivers."

The latest figures show there are more than 670,000 family caregivers statewide.


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