Care for the Caregiver

p>Chapter 1

Face of the Caregiver

In the past 12 months, an estimated 65.7million people in the U.S. have served as unpaid family caregivers to an adult or a child.

More than three in ten U.S. households (31.2%) report that at least one person has served as an unpaid family caregiver within the last twelve months, leading to an estimate of 36.5 million households with a caregiver present.

Caregivers are predominantly female (66%) and one third (34%) are male. They are 48 years of age, on average. One third takes care of two or more people (34%). A large majority of caregivers provide care for a relative (86%), with over one-third taking care of a parent (36%). One in seven cares for their child (14%). Caregivers have been in their role for an average of 4.6 years, with three in ten having given care to their loved one for five years or more (31%).

On average caregivers spend 20.4 hours per week providing care. Caregiving is particularly time-intensive for those who live with their care recipient (39.3 hours/week) and those caring for a child under the age of 18 (29.7 hours/week). Female caregivers spend more time providing care than men, on average (21.9 vs. 17.4 hours/week). Caregivers report that the top two reasons for the recipient needing care are old age (12%) and Alzheimer’s or dementia (10%). Other frequent mentions are mental/emotional illness (7%), cancer (7%) heart disease (5%) and stroke (5%). How is caregivers' time spent? A majority of caregivers help their loved one with at least one Activity of Daily Living (ADL) 56%. The most common of these is helping the care recipient get in and out of beds and chairs (40%). Personal care tasks are also fairly common-32% help their care recipient get dressed, 26% assist with bathing or showering, 24% help with getting to and from the toilet, and 18% help deal with incontinence. One in five help feed their loved one (19%).

Seventeen percent of caregivers feel their health has gotten worse as a result of caregiving. Those who have been providing care for five years or more are nearly twice as likely as shorter term caregivers to report this decline (24% vs. 14%). Other caregivers who are more likely to report worsening health include high burden caregivers (28% vs. 12% for medium to low burden caregivers), co-resident caregivers (28% vs. 13%), women (20% vs. 12% men), and those providing 21 or more hours of care per week (29% vs. 13% 0 to 20 hours).

Three in ten caregivers consider their caregiving situation to be emotionally stressful (31% rating their stress as 4 to 5 on a 5 point scale) and co-resident and burden of care are again factors related to stress. Women are also more likely than men to feel high stress (35% vs. 25%). Half of caregivers (53%) say their caregiving takes time away from friends and other family members. Those who have sacrificed this time with family and friends are far more likely to feel high emotional stress (47%) than those who have been able to maintain the time they spend with family and friends (14%).

Nearly six in ten of those who are caregivers in the past 12 months are currently employed (57%), with (46%) working full time and (11%) working part time. Fifteen percent are retired and (10%) are homemakers. Seven in ten (70%) of caregivers report making changes such as cutting back on their work hours, changing jobs, stopping work entirely, taking a leave of absence or other such changes as a result of their caregiving role .

Most caregivers feel their health is excellent or very good (57%), while 17% say it is fair or poor. The longer a caregiver has been providing care, the more likely she or he is to report fair or poor health. By comparison, 13% of the U.S. adult population describes their health as fair or poor.

Caregivers of children with special needs who spent more than 20 hours per week providing care are more likely than others to arrange/supervise outside services (52% vs. 29%), do physical/medical treatments (54% vs. 37%) and manage or administer medication (75% vs. 55%).

The younger the care recipient, the more likely he or she is to be male. Among child recipients most are male (59%). The gender balance shifts close to 50/50 among the 18 to 49 year old recipients (47% are male), and among the 50 plus recipients, the balance tips toward females (32% male, 68% female).