More than 65 million people, 29% of the U.S. population, provide care for a chronically ill, disabled or aged family member or friend during any given year and spend an average of 20 hours per week providing care for their loved one.
4% of family caregivers care for a special needs child with an estimated 16.8 million caring for special needs children under 18 years old. 55% of these caregivers are caring for their own children.
73% of family caregivers who care for someone over the age of 18 either work or have worked while providing care; 66% have had to make some adjustments to their work life, from reporting late to work to giving up work entirely; and 1 in 5 family caregivers have had to take a leave of absence.
47% of working caregivers indicate an increase in caregiving expenses has caused them to use up ALL or MOST of their savings.
20% of employed female caregivers over 50 years old report symptoms of depression compared to 8% of their non-caregiving peers.
22% of family caregivers say they need help communicating with physicians.
(Caregiver statistics are quoted from NFCA)
The role of caregiver can be a short-term or long-term assignment. For some it can start as financial or chore assistance for an elderly relative and build to a more serious full-time proposition as that relative’s physical or mental health deteriorates. For others it is sudden and full-on 24X7 care in order to prevent an elderly relative from going to a rehabilitation facility or elderly care facility. Still others find themselves caring for special needs children. Relatives also manage the care as provided by a facility when the patient can no longer be serviced in the home.
Help is available, but sometimes, it is difficult to find the time to locate it. Plus the caregiver may not understand where to go for assistance. The National Family Caregivers Association (NFCA) and the National Alliance for Caregiving (NAC) are organizations that can help. They have worked together to create the site Family Caregiving 101. This website offers many topics, such as how to talk to the hospital and insurance companies. It provides links to financial resources and information about medical conditions. There is also a link to a training manual for caregivers.
The NFCA supports caregivers regardless of diagnosis or life stage in order to empower, educate and support caregivers. They also advocate for the population of caregivers and offer online discussions for caregivers.
The NAC also offers online resources and publications. This not-for-profit alliance has members from professional associations, service, grassroots and disease-specific organizations, corporations and government agencies. Their mission “is to be the objective national resource on family caregiving”.
For the next couple of posts, we will continue to focus on the issues of caregiving.
