National Family Caregivers Month

Posted by Carolyn Martin on November 3rd, 2016 Posted in: Health Literacy, Health Observances

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November is National Family Caregivers Month. Caregivers provide a much needed service. According to a report by Indiana University, these informal caregivers provide a service that saves Medicare $375 billion dollars a year. The statistics are staggering regarding caregivers in the last few years. The following statistics are from the  National Alliance for Caregiving website:

• Approximately 43.5 million caregivers have provided unpaid care to an adult or child in the last 12 months. [National Alliance for Caregiving and AARP. (2015). Caregiving in the U.S.]
• About 34.2 million Americans have provided unpaid care to an adult age 50 or older in the last 12 months. [National Alliance for Caregiving and AARP. (2015). Caregiving in the U.S.]
• The majority of caregivers (82%) care for one other adult, while 15% care for 2 adults, and 3% for 3 or more adults. [National Alliance for Caregiving and AARP. (2015). Caregiving in the U.S.]
• Approximately 39.8 million caregivers provide care to adults (aged 18+) with a disability or illness or 16.6% of Americans. [Coughlin, J. (2010). Estimating the Impact of Caregiving and Employment on Well-Being: Outcomes & Insights in Health Management.]
• About 15.7 million adult family caregivers care for someone who has Alzheimer’s disease or other dementia. [Alzheimer’s Association. (2015). 2015 Alzheimer’s Disease Facts and Figures.]

This caregiving may involve such clinical tasks as doling out medications or assistance getting in and out of bed but it also includes providing transportation, housework, grocery shopping, and even financial assistance.  Many caregivers are spouses but also includes friends or other relatives. The average age of caregivers is around 49 years of age but older caregivers tend to provide more hours of caregiving and 34% of caregivers are over age 65. Many of these caregivers are not necessarily doing this voluntarily. Many are pressured by family or the person needing the care. Also, financial constraints such as low income or lack of insurance coverage contribute to the need.

Caregiving has a health impact. Many do not take the time to address their own health needs resulting in poorer health. Many lack the time to eat healthy and to exercise. Many feel isolated and have times of depression with many showing signs of major depression. It’s not uncommon for caregivers to find it difficult to keep a job and be a caregiver and so may reduce work hours or give up their jobs entirely resulting in loss of wages and benefits. The added stress can add as much as ten years to a caregiver’s life and increase their mortality risk.

Caregivers provide an invaluable service for all of us and as we all age or experience a debilitating condition we are grateful for their services. Every month deserves a thank you to the caregivers in this country but we especially recognize them in this month of thankfulness.

It is important for caregivers to take care of themselves and stay healthy.  Here are just a few of many resources that may be of help for caregivers for themselves and for the person they are assisting.

• MedlinePlus health topic page for Caregivers https://medlineplus.gov/caregivers.html
• Eldercare Locator provides a wealth of information regarding the care of a friend or family member http://www.eldercare.gov/eldercare.NET/Public/index.aspx
• The National Library of Medicine provides several resources caregivers need in giving care https://sis.nlm.nih.gov/outreach/caregivers.html
• Medicare has a whole section for caregivers including a toolkit and suggestions of how for self-care https://www.medicare.gov/campaigns/caregiver/caregiver.html
• Disability.gov provides information for family caregivers https://www.disability.gov/resource/disability-govs-guide-family-caregivers/
• Caring for the Caregiver website offers resources and assistance for caregivers http://caringforthecaregiver.org/
• Family Caregiver Alliance offers resources and support for caregivers https://www.caregiver.org/
• Caregiver Action Network provides a toolbox and provides information to caregivers http://caregiveraction.org/