"Roughly 42% of U.S. workers have provided unpaid elder care in the past five years." AARP report
The number of U. S. caregivers is expected to rise to 49% within five years. AARP is urging federal policy makers to look at the current discrimination in some workplaces which penalize caregivers who need flexibility to provide care for a spouse, partner or parent. (according to Susan Reinhard, director of the AARP Public Policy Institute) Even if caregivers are self employed, as I am, we are penalized by loss of income for the time spent caregiving. Even if the person with dementia is in an assisted living facility or nursing home, there are still the tasks of coordinating doctor visits, checking up on prescriptions, arranging for services -- such as PT. Yesterday in taking Dwane to his doctor for a routine check up, I discovered he has not been getting an important medication since August!! Unbelievable. It turns out it was a mix up among the doctor, the pharmacy and the assisted living facility; but it adds another task to my list --- that of routinely checking his medications to make sure they are being given correctly.
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