https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2026/01/10/senior-caregivers-spouse/
Dear Shannon Najmabadi:
I want to commend you for your excellent front-page article in the January 16, 2026 Washington Post on spousal caregiving. Your reporting thoughtfully captured both the emotional depth and the practical realities faced by family caregivers, specifically spouses—an experience shared by so many households yet too often overlooked.
I appreciate your focus on the long-term nature of caregiving and the toll it can take, especially without adequate support. Articles like yours play a critical role in raising awareness and informing policymakers and the broader public.
Your article also underscores the importance of accessible and affordable resources for family caregivers. In the Washington, DC region, programs such as Home Care Partners’ DC Caregivers Institute, funded by the D.C. Department of Aging and Community Living provide training, case management, respite care and financial reimbursements for family caregivers. These supports can make a meaningful difference for family caregivers who must navigate complex systems and balance their own health and personal needs, while caring for a loved one at home.
Equally urgent is the need to strengthen the professional caregiving workforce—particularly direct care workers such as home health aides and certified nursing assistants, where shortages are already at crisis levels. These workers are essential to supporting spousal and family caregivers, yet they are too often underpaid, undervalued, and inadequately supported despite the skill and compassion their work requires.
Organizations such as the DC Coalition on Long-Term Care have focused advocacy efforts on addressing this challenge by pushing for better wages, stronger benefits, improved training, practical regulations and clear career pathways for direct care workers. Investing in this workforce is not only a matter of fairness—it is essential to the sustainability of home- and community-based care and supporting the family caregivers who form the backbone of this system.
Thank you again for bringing this important issue to the forefront with clarity and humanity. I hope your reporting continues to spark conversation and action around caregiving and the systems that must support it.
Sincerely,
Marla Lahat