- Family caregivers
Family caregivers provide a wide variety of services to care recipients: administering medications and physical therapy, assisting with daily tasks, meeting with healthcare providers, coordinating treatment regimens and schedules, helping with financial and * administrative aspects of medical care, health insurance and more. [http://www.thefamilycaregiver.org/who_are_family_caregivers/comp_survey.cfm They're also counted on to provide much needed emotional support that is so essential to healing and coping with disease.]
A recent study says that 26.5% of all American adults today are family caregivers.citation |author= Peter S. Arno |format=presentation |publisher= presented at the NIH Care Coordination and the Caregiving Forum |date=Fall 2006 ]
Family caregivers are typically female baby boomers citation |author= National Alliance for Caregiving and AARP |format=presentation |publisher= Caregiving in the U.S. |date=2004 ] whose needs for information, resources, advice and emotional support can be as great as—or even greater than—the needs of their care recipients.
The value of the voluntary, "unpaid" caregiving service provided by caregivers was estimated at $310 billion in 2006 — almost twice as much as was actually spent on home care and nursing services combined.citation |author= Peter S. Arno |format=presentation |publisher=NIH Care Coordination and the Caregiving Forum |date=Fall 2006 ] It's more than the US government spent on [http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-11-26-medicaid-spending_x.htm Medicaid] , and greater than the [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23596092/ Federal budget deficit] .
The Family Caregiver Experience
According to a November, [http://www.caringtoday.com/press-releases/national-survey-of-caregivers 2007 survey on family caregiving] , most family caregivers feel more positive about their experiences than they did just before they took on the responsibility, with significant differences in expectation prior to becoming a caregiver and the actual experience.
The survey also found that caregivers are often burdened by high out-of-pocket costs in caring for a spouse or parent, but:
* Sixty percent of the caregivers called the experience "very or extremely rewarding," a 50% jump over the number of caregivers who thought in advance they would find the experience "very or extremely rewarding." Nearly 80% (78.8%) percent of the caregivers found the experience to be at least "rewarding," an increase of more than one-third from initial expectation.
* A majority of the caregivers-nearly 54%-formed a stronger bond with the patient during the time they were together.
* Almost 60% of the respondents reported an improvement in the quality of their relationship with the person for whom they cared. By contrast, fewer than 10% said that their relationship got worse during the time they were caregivers.
* Social activities of the caregiver tend to diminish. However, the diminished social activities are replaced with an increased quality of relationship with the care recipient.
* More than 2/3 of all caregivers (68.7%) said they enjoy the tasks associated with caregiving. However, prior to assuming the role, fewer than half (45.5%) thought they would enjoy caregiving.
* The amount of satisfaction with caregiving is directly related to the type of disease from which the care recipient suffers. Caregivers of depression sufferers, cancer and cardiac disease have more difficulty than those caring for patients who suffer from diabetes, high blood pressure and arthritis.
* More than ¾ of caregivers are female. Nearly ¾ range in age from 35 to 59.
Other information about US caregivers:
* More than 50 million people provide care for a chronically ill, disabled or aged family member or friend during any given year. citation |author= U.S. Department of Health and Human Services |format=presentation |publisher= U.S. Department of Health and Human Services |date=1998] citation |author= National Family Caregivers Association |format=presentation |publisher= National Family Caregivers Association |date=Summer 2000]
* 1.4 million children ages 8 to 18 provide care for an adult relative; 72% are caring for a parent or grandparent. Fortunately, most are not the sole caregiver.citation |author= National Alliance for Caregiving and the United Hospital Fund |format=presentation |publisher= National Alliance for Caregiving and the United Hospital Fund |date=2005]
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