At the 2008 Rocky Mountain Geriatrics Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah, Richard Schulz, Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine shared important facts about today's family caregivers:
- In 2003, over 44 million people in 23 million households provided care for a family member or friend who was chronically ill, disabled, and/or over the age of 65. This number is expected to have grown since then.
- Eighty percent of those receiving care are age 50 or older, and 65% are female.
- Approximately 61% of caregivers are female.
- Caregivers provide an average of $257 billion worth of care every year.
- Businesses in the United States lose 11 to 29 billion dollars each year due to employees missing work in order to care for older relatives.
As Dr. Schulz pointed out, caregivers are the heroes of our society for their contributions and sacrifices. If you want to connect with some of the millions of other caregivers, many of whom are also caring for a loved one with Alzheimer's disease, please visit our Alzheimer's forum.
Sources:
Caregiving in the US. National Alliance for Caregiving and AARP. 2004. http://www.caregiving.org/data/04finalreport.pdf
Schulz, R. (2008, September). Intervening to support caregivers of persons with dementia. Paper presentation at the 6th Annual Rocky Mountain Geriatrics Conference, Salt Lake City, Utah.
