The Home Instead Senior Care Foundation awarded $10,000 to Senior Gleaners, Inc. in Sacramento. Now in its 37th year of operation, Senior Gleaners is one of the most-efficient food banks in the United States. The Foundation grant will support the Senior Initiative and provide an additional 50,000+ pounds of wholesome food to 1,500 aging adults in Sacramento County. Surplus food will be gathered from orchards and famers’ fields, grocery stores and reclamation centers and transported to the Senior Gleaners warehouse for sorting and distribution. This is the second grant the Home Instead Senior Care Foundation has awarded to Senior Gleaners. The first was in spring 2008 for $5,000.  For more information about Senior Gleaners, visit its website.

Richmond, VA (April 9, 2013) - In its 10th year, the Genworth (NYSE:GNW) 2013 Cost of Care Survey shows a continued upward trajectory when it comes to the cost of obtaining long term care services. The cost of receiving care in a setting such as an assisted living facility or nursing home is dramatically increasing, while the cost to receive care at home through homemaker services or a home health aide is rising at a much more gradual pace.

"There are many factors that go into rising care costs, from the number of available skilled professionals to real estate prices," said Pat Foley, president of distribution and marketing for Genworth. "If you look at national private nursing home costs over the past 10 years that we've done this study, the median annual costs have gone up from $65,200 to $83,950, increasing at more than four percent a year. The better news is that costs for homemaker services and home health aides have remained almost flat. Since 70% of Genworth’s first time long term care claimants choose in-home care, these costs have remained more manageable[1]."

Nationally, the 2013 median hourly cost of homemaker services and home health aide services is $18 and $19 respectively. Homemaker costs have risen just 1.4 percent since 2012 and 0.8 annually over the past five years. Home health aide services have risen 2.3 percent since 2012 and 1.0 percent annually over the past five years. The costs to receive care in an assisted living facility are rising much faster. The median annual cost for care in an assisted living facility is $41,400. This represents an increase of 4.6 percent since 2012 and a 4.3 percent annual increase over the past five years. The comparable cost for a private nursing home room rose 3.6 percent from 2012 to 2013, to $83,950, or 4.5 percent annualized over the past five years.

Bob Bua, vice president of Genworth and business leader of its wholly owned subsidiary, CareScout, explains, “Since we first did this study, we have seen a steady move away from traditional nursing home care to less expensive options that include in-home care, assisted care facilities and adult day care. In addition to being the kind of care most people prefer to receive, the difference in the relative cost of these services versus private residential nursing care can be dramatic.”

“We have never met a person who did not prefer to have care in their own home,” said Roger Baumgart, chief executive officer, Home Instead Senior Care, one of the nation’s leading providers of home care services for seniors. “It’s encouraging to see that home care costs have grown more slowly compared to full service residential long term care expenses. The vast majority of Americans want to age in their own homes, but sometimes there are physical or cognitive issues that can make that difficult. Every day, we see the emotional and financial challenges that seniors and their caregivers and families face in making decisions about care. Genworth’s Cost of Care survey provides a wealth of data to help families work through the costs and begin the planning process for how they will care for their loved ones,” said Baumgart.

Regardless of the kind of care a person might receive, it remains critically important to make a plan. Wendy Boglioli, Genworth’s national spokesperson, offers several tips on beginning the planning process:

• “First, close the Care Knowledge Gap. The more a person knows about the cost and impact of long term care choices, the more apparent it will become to start planning today.
• Second, Build a Team. Just as a football head coach surrounds himself with savvy coordinators who are tasked with specific coaching duties, consumers should bring in outside professionals to fill in the long term care gaps.
• Third, Put It In Writing. It isn’t just identifying where the money is coming from. The plan should include a hardcopy and an electronic version of who your team is, their roles and contact information.”

Additional Resources

• Consumers can find out what the cost of care is in 437 regions across all 50 states by visiting Genworth’s Cost of Care website.
• Genworth’s Let’s Talkwebsite offers tips for initiating conversations about long term care and financial planning with loved ones.
• Join Genworth’s national spokesperson and Olympic Gold Medalist, Wendy Boglioli, for discussions on being Financially Sound, Physically Strong at AskWendyB.
• On Genworth Celebrates Caregivers Facebook page, caregivers can have their questions about caregiving challenges answered by a professional care advocate.
• Genworth’s Caregiver Support Resource helps families make informed choices about long term care.

About Genworth's 2013 Cost of Care Survey
Genworth’s Cost of Care Survey is the most comprehensive study of its kind, covering nearly 15,000 long term care providers nationwide. The survey includes 437 regions which cover all Metropolitan Statistical Areas defined for the 2010 U.S. Census. Genworth annually surveys the cost of long term care across the U.S. to help Americans plan for the potential costs associated with the various types of long term care available in their preferred location and setting. CareScout®, part of the Genworth Financial family of companies, has conducted the survey since 2004. Located in Waltham, Massachusetts, CareScout has specialized in helping families find long term care providers nationwide since 1997. Genworth’s 2013 Cost of Care Survey was conducted during January and February 2013.

About Genworth Financial
Genworth Financial, Inc. (NYSE: GNW) is a leading Fortune 500 insurance holding company dedicated to helping people secure their financial lives, families and futures. Genworth has leadership positions in offerings that assist consumers in protecting themselves, investing for the future and planning for retirement -- including life insurance, long term care insurance, financial protection coverages, and independent advisor-based wealth management -- and mortgage insurance that helps consumers achieve home ownership while assisting lenders in managing their risk and capital.

Genworth has approximately 6,300 employees and operates through three divisions: U.S. Life Insurance, which includes life insurance, long term care insurance and fixed annuities; Global Mortgage Insurance, containing U.S. Mortgage Insurance and International Mortgage Insurance segments; and the Corporate and Other division, which includes the International Protection, Wealth Management and Runoff segments. Products and services are offered through financial intermediaries, advisors, independent distributors and sales specialists. Genworth Financial, Inc., headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, traces its roots back to 1871 and became a public company in 2004. For more information, visit genworth.com. From time to time, Genworth Financial, Inc. releases important information via postings on its corporate website. Accordingly, investors and other interested parties are encouraged to enroll to receive automatic email alerts and Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feeds regarding new postings. Enrollment information is found under the "Investors" section of genworth.com.

Sponsored in part by Home Instead Senior Care:

Dementia expert Teepa Snow will be in the San Francisco Bay Area for a special speaking engagement in three locations:

• March 27, John Muir Hospital, Walnut Creek Campus (for healthcare professionals)
• March 28, Alma Via of San Francisco (for healthcare professionals and family caregivers)
• March 29, Fireside Room, Rossmoor (for family caregivers)

CEU approved, 6 credits

Please download a copy of the registration form.

For more information, please call 650-522-8009 ext. 405.

Teepa Snow, MS, OTR/L, FAOTA is an occupational therapist currently working as a dementia care and dementia education specialist with over 33 years experience in geriatrics. Teepa is an advocate for those living with dementia and has made it her personal mission to help family and professional caregivers better understand how it feels to have dementia so they too can be better caregivers. Since her lectures are usually done in the first-person – as if she is the person with dementia – her training gives the audience a first-hand understanding and experience with the disease and a hands-on opportunity to try out new skills in a safe and fun environment.

Home Instead Senior Care^®, the leading global provider of in-home, nonmedical care services for seniors, today was named the Top Franchisor of the Year by the Franchise Business Review. This is the third year running Home Instead has been honored with this prestigious award recognizing franchise systems that provide the best business opportunities for their owners.

Home Instead Senior Care^® further was recognized as the Top Franchisor in both the senior care and large systems award categories. Each of these awards is part of the Franchise Business Review's Franchisee Satisfaction Award program.

"We are both honored and humbled to be recognized for the value we bring our franchise owners," said Jeff Huber, president, Home Instead, Inc. "This award is a testament to Home Instead's ongoing commitment to provide its more than 980 franchises with support and training that help to ensure their success – and that families worldwide have access to high-quality, affordable home care for their loved ones."  

Home Instead was selected for the Top Franchisor awards based on a survey of more than 26,000 franchise owners, representing 350 brands. Participants rated, reviewed and ranked their satisfaction with top performing franchise systems across a range of benchmarks, including their franchise experience, market area and business lifestyle. Support offered to Home Instead franchise owners contributing to high satisfaction rankings includes: 

• Education and training, including industry-leading training programs for CAREGivers^SM and family members; a new-owner training program at Home Instead headquarters; onsite visits from business performance coaches; e-learning; and Web-based resources
• Local marketing and public relations support, including one year of professional public relations paid for by Home Instead, Inc.
• Professionally created marketing tools, programs and how-to guidelines
• Mentoring programs and discussion boards on which franchise owners can share their experiences and insights
• Access to the annual Home Instead international convention, local meetings and other networking or learning events
• 24-7 business and technical support

Home Instead, Inc. further conducts comprehensive research on key issues facing caregivers and seniors, and offers specialized training on pertinent aging topics, including Alzheimer's care. This extensive industry knowledge helps make Home Instead Senior Care^® the franchise leader in senior care.

"The senior-care industry is one of the top sectors for franchisee satisfaction overall, which makes it even more impressive that Home Instead has managed to stay number one for three years in a row," said Michelle Rowan, president, Franchise Business Review. "Home Instead is very committed to its franchisees and the broader industry, and remains actively involved with the system on all levels – even as they pursue aggressive international growth. It's great to see its efforts reflected in their franchisees' success, satisfaction and our awards."

Now in its eighth year, the Franchise Satisfaction Awards is the only program to rank companies based on owner satisfaction. In March Franchise Business Review will release its Guide to Today's Top Franchises profiling the Home Instead Senior Care^® network and other award winners, and providing a snapshot of the current franchising industry.