In a review of the sociodemographic of the caregivers, it was found that the overwhelming majority of caregivers are females that live with their Alzheimer’s affected family member and 87% reside together in the familial home and provided an average of 11 hours of care per day (Raggi, Tasca, Panerai, Neri, & Ferri, 2015). The number of male caregivers has steadily risen since the 1970’s as women have entered the workforce and their income has become important to help support the family (Greene & Hunt, 2017). Female family members often view providing care as a familial role and because of this, they delay or do not seek formalized support until their burden has progressed to a point at which they cannot function properly as the primary caregiver
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There are a number of studies that have been done in the past few years by the National Alliance for Caregiving, Commission on Long-Term Care and the Bipartisan Policy Center that highlight the struggles of familial caregivers and have made recommendations to Congress, Health and Human Services, Labor, and Veterans Affairs departments to implement changes to Medicare and Medicaid to view caregivers as part of the health team and to develop strategies to help assist the caregivers and alleviate some of the burden on them and their families (Greene & Hunt, 2017). The National Family Caregiver Support Program (NFCSP) was authorized in 2000 to help family caregivers get information about support services, counseling, training and support groups. Additionally, the Lifespan Respite Care Act of 2006 helped caregivers find relief services to be able to take a break from the arduous work of caregiving (Greene & Hunt, 2017). These are the first steps to assist caregivers find relief from the high degree of burden that they carry to provide care to a loved one for a disease which will ultimately take their life. More research is needed to analyze both positive and negative effects of caregiving as most of the current research concentrates solely on the negative effects (Semiatin & O’Connor, 2012). This research is critical because the numbers of caregivers will continue to rise every year as the prevalence of the disease continues to increase
There are a number of studies that have been done in the past few years by the National Alliance for Caregiving, Commission on Long-Term Care and the Bipartisan Policy Center that highlight the struggles of familial caregivers and have made recommendations to Congress, Health and Human Services, Labor, and Veterans Affairs departments to implement changes to Medicare and Medicaid to view caregivers as part of the health team and to develop strategies to help assist the caregivers and alleviate some of the burden on them and their families (Greene & Hunt, 2017). The National Family Caregiver Support Program (NFCSP) was authorized in 2000 to help family caregivers get information about support services, counseling, training and support groups. Additionally, the Lifespan Respite Care Act of 2006 helped caregivers find relief services to be able to take a break from the arduous work of caregiving (Greene & Hunt, 2017). These are the first steps to assist caregivers find relief from the high degree of burden that they carry to provide care to a loved one for a disease which will ultimately take their life. More research is needed to analyze both positive and negative effects of caregiving as most of the current research concentrates solely on the negative effects (Semiatin & O’Connor, 2012). This research is critical because the numbers of caregivers will continue to rise every year as the prevalence of the disease continues to increase