Caregivers
are people of any age that take responsibility for the care of loved
ones when they are elderly, chronically ill, physically or mentally
disabled, facing addiction or otherwise impaired.
Since caregiving is primarily based on a person’s willingness
to care for loved ones, people in our community often shoulder
responsibility in silence, seeking little support for themselves. Family
caregivers represent a large and sometimes unspoken for segment of the
American Population. Today, approximately 46 million Americans are
providing care for an adult relative or friend (Source 1). There are
over 16 million family caregivers taking care of disabled children
(Source. 2) , and 2.7 million grandparents caring for children under the
age of 18 (Source 3). There are even as many as 1.4 million young adult
caregivers providing primary care for their grandparents or other elder
relatives (Source 4).
Currently,
there are many individuals and groups petitioning for government
recognition and support for family caregivers, and with good reason. The
economic value of care provided by family caregivers is estimated at
over $300 billion a year, which is more than 2x the nationwide spending
on nursing homes and paid home care services combined. (Source 1).
Unpaid family caregivers tend to suffer loss of wages and perceive their
own health status to be lower than if they weren’t responsible for the
care of a loved one, which often combines both physical and emotional
strain on the caregiver. This can be exacerbated when the family
caregiver has not chosen to be the primary caregiver, but are taking up
an undesired responsibility, in reality, which is true in the case of
some adult and young adult caregivers. The stress of the responsibility
can force a caregiver to unwillingly limit their careers, education,
decline promotions or neglect their own wellness in other ways.
As
a family wellness advocate and patient advocate I agree that more
should be done to assist family caregivers at a federal and statewide
level with the physical and emotional task of caregiving. More attention
should be given to this important role publicly so that family
caregivers will not suffer in silence, and can improve their own health,
mental and financial wellness.
Understanding
options,and sharing helpful information within the community is one way
local organizations can assist families in decision-making, as well as
with finding the health and wellness support to make life flow smoothly
for those in need of care and caregivers alike.
Currently
there are some online communities specifically for caregivers, social
supports and patient advocacy resources to help caregivers through
everyday life and tough times as well.
Caregivers
should review the many websites listed on this blog for more
information and support for their role as family caregiver.
Sources:
- http://newoldage.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/02/20/the-reluctant-caregiver/
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