caregiving statistics

Caregiving Statistics

STATISTICS ON FAMILY CAREGIVERS AND FAMILY CAREGIVING

1. CAREGIVING POPULATION2. ECONOMICS OF CAREGIVING3. IMPACT ON FAMILY CAREGIVER’S HEALTH4. CAREGIVING AND WORK5. CAREGIVING AND HEALTH CARE6. CAREGIVER SELF-AWARENESS

Reference:http://www.nfcacares.org/who_are_family_caregivers/care_giving_statstics.cfm

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.

CAREGIVING POPULATION 1

Caregiving in the United States; National Alliance for Caregiving in collaboration with AARP; November 2009.

The value of the services family caregivers provide for "free," when caring for older adults, is estimated to be $375 billion a year. That is almost twice as much as is actually spent on homecare and nursing home services combined ($158 billion).

CAREGIVING POPULATION 2

Evercare Survey of the Economic Downturn and Its Impact on Family Caregiving; National Alliance for Caregiving and Evercare. March 2009

CAREGIVING POPULATION 3

The typical family caregiver is a 49-year-old woman caring for her widowed 69-year-old mother who does not live with her. She is married and employed. Approximately 66% of family caregivers are women. More than 37% have children or grandchildren under 18 years old living with them.

Caregiving in the United States; National Alliance for Caregiving in collaboration with AARP. November 2009

CAREGIVING POPULATION 4

1.4 million children ages 8 to 18 provide care for an adult relative; 72% are caring for a parent or grandparent; and 64% live in the same household as their care recipient. Fortunately, most are not the sole caregiver.

National Alliance for Caregiving and the United Hospital Fund, Young Caregivers in the U.S., 2005

20 hours per week is the average number of hours family caregivers spend caring for their loved ones while 13% of family caregivers are providing 40 hours of care a week or more.

CAREGIVING POPULATION 5

Caregiving in the United States; National Alliance for Caregiving in collaboration with AARP. November 2009

Family caregivers are the foundation of long-term care nationwide exceeding Medicaid long-term care spending in all states.

CAREGIVING POPULATION 6

Evercare Survey of the Economic Downturn and Its Impact on Family Caregiving; National Alliance for Caregiving and Evercare. March 2009

51% of care recipients live in their own home, 29% live with their family caregiver, and 4% live in nursing homes and assisted living.

CAREGIVING POPULATION 7

Caregiving in the United States; National Alliance for Caregiving in collaboration with AARP. November 2009

36% of family caregivers care for a parent and 7 out of 10 caregivers are caring for loved ones over 50 years old.

CAREGIVING POPULATION 8

Caregiving in the United States; National Alliance for Caregiving in collaboration with AARP.

November 2009

14% 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.

CAREGIVING POPULATION 9

Caregiving in the United States; National Alliance for Caregiving in collaboration with AARP. November 2009

78% of adults living in the community and in need of long-term care depend on family and friends as their only source of help.

CAREGIVING POPULATION 10

Thompson, L. Long-term care: support for family caregivers. 2004

Women who are family caregivers are 2.5 times more likely than non-caregivers to live in poverty and five times more likely to receive Supplemental Security Income (SSI).

ECONOMICS OF CAREGIVING 1

Study conducted by researchers at Rice University data compiled from the Health and Retirement Study funded by the

National Institute of Aging and conducted by the University of Michigan, 1992-2004

Caregiving families (families in which one member has a disability) have median incomes that are more than 15% lower than non-caregiving families. In every state and DC the poverty rate is higher among families with members with a disability than among families without.

ECONOMICS OF CAREGIVING 2

Disability and American Families: 2000, Census 2000 Special Reports, July 2005

ECONOMICS OF CAREGIVING 3

During the 2009 economic downturn, 1 in 5 family caregivers had to move into the same home with their loved ones to cut expenses.

Evercare Survey of the Economic Downturn and Its Impact on Family Caregiving;

National Alliance for Caregiving and Evercare. March 2009

47% of working caregivers indicate an increase in caregiving expenses has caused them to use up ALL or MOST of their savings.

ECONOMICS OF CAREGIVING 4

Evercare Survey of the Economic Downturnand Its Impact on Family Caregiving;

National Alliance for Caregiving and Evercare. March 2009

The average family caregiver for someone 50 years or older spends $5,531 per year on out of pocket caregiving expenses in 2007 which was more than 10% of the median income for a family caregiver that year.

ECONOMICS OF CAREGIVING 5

Valuing the Invaluable: The Economic Value of Family Caregiving, 2008 Update. AARP

23% of family caregivers caring for loved ones for 5 years or more report their health is fair or poor.

Caregiving in the United States; National Alliance for Caregiving in collaboration with AARP; November 2009

IMPACT ON FAMILY CAREGIVER’S HEALTH 1

Stress of family caregiving for persons with dementia has been shown to impact a person's immune system for up to three years after their caregiving ends thus increasing their chances of developing a chronic illness themselves.

IMPACT ON FAMILY CAREGIVER’S HEALTH 2

Drs. Janice-Kiecolt Glaser and Ronald Glaser,"Chronic stress and age-related increases in the proinflammatory cytokine

IL-6.“ Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, June 30, 2003.

Nearly three quarters (72%) of family caregivers report not going to the doctor as often as they should and 55% say they skip doctor appointments for themselves. 63% of caregivers report having poor eating habits than non-caregivers and 58% indicate worse exercise habits than before caregiving responsibilities.

Evercare Study of Caregivers in Decline: A Close-Up Look at Health Risks of Caring for a Loved One.

National Alliance for Caregiving and Evercare. 2006.

IMPACT ON FAMILY CAREGIVER’S HEALTH 3

20% of employed female caregivers over 50 years old report symptoms of depression compared to 8% of their non-caregiving peers.

MetLife Study of Working Caregivers and Employer Health Costs;National Alliance for Caregiving and MetLife Mature Market Institute.

February 2010

IMPACT ON FAMILY CAREGIVER’S HEALTH 4

40% to 70% of family caregivers have clinically significant symptoms of depression with approximately a quarter to half of these caregivers meet the diagnostic criteria for major depression.

Zarit, S. (2006). Assessment of Family Caregivers: A Research Perspective

IMPACT ON FAMILY CAREGIVER’S HEALTH 5

More than 1 in 10 (11%) of family caregivers report that caregiving has caused their physical health to deteriorate.

How Do Family Caregivers Fare? A Closer Look at their Experiences. Center on Aging Society. 2005.

IMPACT ON FAMILY CAREGIVER’S HEALTH 6

A wife's hospitalization increased her husband's chances of dying within a month by 35%. A husband's hospitalization boosted his wife's mortality risk by 44%.

Nicholas D. Christakis, Professor, Health-care Policy, Harvard Medical School, Boston and Suzanne Salamon, M.D., Associate Chief, Geriatric Psychiatry,

Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital, Boston, New England Journal of Medicine, Feb. 16, 2006

IMPACT ON FAMILY CAREGIVER’S HEALTH 7

Family caregivers experiencing extreme stress have been shown to age prematurely. This level of stress can take as much as 10 years off a family caregiver's life.

Elissa S. Epel, Dept of Psychiatry, Univ of Calif, SF, et al, From the Proceedings of the

National Academy of Sciences, Dec 7, 2004, Vol 101, No. 49.

IMPACT ON FAMILY CAREGIVER’S HEALTH 8

Six in 10 family caregivers are employed. MetLife Study of Working

Caregivers and Employer Health Costs;National Alliance for Caregiving and MetLife Mature Market Institute. February 2010

CAREGIVING AND WORK 1

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.

Caregiving in the United States; National Alliance for Caregiving in collaboration with AARP.

November 2009

CAREGIVING AND WORK 2

64% of working parents caring for a special needs child believe that caregiving responsibility has negatively impacted their work performance.

Care.com and National Family Caregivers Association: State of Care Index. 2009

CAREGIVING AND WORK 3

American businesses can lose as much as $34 billion each year due to employees' need to care for loved ones 50 years of age and older.

MetLife Caregiving Cost Study: Productivity Losses to U.S.MetLife Mature Market Institute and National Alliance for Caregiving Business.

July 2006

CAREGIVING AND WORK 4

Caregivers caring for elderly loved ones cost employers 8% more in health care costs estimated to be worth $13.4 billion per year.

MetLife Study of Working Caregivers and Employer Health Costs;National Alliance for Caregiving and MetLife Mature Market Institute. February 2010

CAREGIVING AND WORK 5

Over 65% of employers believe that health benefits improve employees' health. Sixty percent (60%) believe it increases morale and 39% believe it increases productivity.

Job-based Health Insurance in the Balance: Employer Views of Coverage in the Workplace.Collins, S.R. et al, The Commonwealth Fund,

Commonwealth Fund Supplement to the 2003 National Organization Study. March 2004

CAREGIVING AND WORK 6

22% of family caregivers say they need help communicating with physicians.

CAREGIVING AND HEALTH CARE 1

National Alliance for Caregiving and AARP, Caregiving in the U.S. 2004

Focus group research suggests that family caregivers do not recognize that public policy has a direct impact on their day-to-day lives. Many are uncomfortable even thinking there might be a connection.

CAREGIVING AND HEALTH CARE 2

Lake Snell Perry & Associates, A Report on Formative Focus Groups,conducted for the Family Caregivers Self-Awareness and Empowerment Project,a joint program of the National Family Caregivers Association and the National

Alliance for Caregiving, September 2001.

Over 90% of family caregivers become more proactive about seeking resources and skills they need to assist their care recipient after they have self-identified.

National Family Caregivers Association, Survey of Self-Identified Family Caregivers, 2001.

CAREGIVER SELF-AWARENESS 1

83% of self-identified family caregivers believe their self-awareness led to increased confidence when talking to healthcare professionals about their loved one's care.

National Family Caregivers Association, Survey of Self-Identified Family Caregivers, 2001

CAREGIVER SELF-AWARENESS 2

For over 75% of family caregivers it was the act of helping their loved one with personal care that contributed to their self-identification.

National Family Caregivers Association, Survey of Self-Identified Family Caregivers, 2001.

CAREGIVER SELF-AWARENESS 3

For 60% of family caregivers, their loved one's diagnosis and their interaction with the health care system made them aware that they were family caregivers.

National Family Caregivers Association, Survey of Self-Identified Family Caregivers, 2001.

CAREGIVER SELF-AWARENESS 4

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