Numerous scientific articles have been published which focus on the people living with Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia, focusing primarily on their wellbeing and disease pathology. However, the caregivers and care partners for people with dementia have been an often-overlooked group for some time. Only recently have studies emerged showing the immense burden that these individuals often face when caring for their loved one, which can result in its own slew of mental and physical health problems.
More than 11 million Americans (1 in 30 of us) are unpaid caregivers for a loved one with dementia. The Alzheimer’s Association estimates that in 2021, these caregivers provided more than 16 billion hours of care, labor which is valued at approximately $272 billion. (For reference, that’s 14 times the annual revenue of McDonald’s.) These numbers are increasing each year, as the prevalence of dementia continues to rise.
Who are these caregivers?
The Alzheimer’s Association has collected statistics on this as well. The burden falls disproportionately on women, who many up two-thirds of all dementia caregivers. 25% of dementia caregivers are “sandwich generation,” meaning they are taking care of both an aging parent and their own children. Approximately 30% of caregivers are age 65 or older. The majority of caregivers work full-time on top of their caregiving responsibilities. The duration of caregiving can be very long, with more than half of caregivers assuming this role for more than four years.
It goes without saying that taking care of a loved one, particularly someone with dementia, is no easy task. First of all, there is a significant financial burden. The average total lifetime cost of care for an individual with dementia is more than $337,000. 70% of this cost is borne by caregivers, both due to the labor value of unpaid caregiving and the costs of providing medications and other resources.
Caregivers mental health
Caregiving also has a mental and physical health impact. Nearly 60% of dementia caregivers report high or very high levels of stress, and rates of depression and anxiety are much higher among caregivers than the general public. Caregiver stress was likely worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic due to closures of adult day-care centers and reduced access to long-term care facilities. This strain, combined with sleep loss, financial stress, and other factors, can make it difficult for caregivers to maintain their own physical health. Caregivers have higher rates of many health issues, including hypertension, slow wound healing, and impaired immune function.
Taking care of the caretakers
Despite these negative statistics, there are strategies that caretakers can employ to reduce their levels of stress. One recent study found that self-compassion (defined as treating oneself kindly, such as holding a positive self-image and viewing situations optimistically) was associated with reduced caregiver burden and increased use of positive coping strategies. Additionally, more than 70% of caregivers do not take advantage of caregiver support groups, which are a shown to be an effective means for decreasing stress levels and increasing social integration.
Many public interventions to assist dementia caregivers have been proposed, such as case management, counseling, and respite care. Most of these have had mixed outcomes; a large meta-review found that challenges in the reporting and classification of these interventions has made it difficult to quantify their levels of success. More studies are needed in this area. Additionally, many of these interventions are currently not widely accessible, particularly to low-income caregivers. It is up to our government agencies to fund research on dementia caregiving and broadly implement science-supported interventions.
Benefits
Through all of these mechanisms, omega-3s exert their beneficial effects in the body. Research has shown that omega-3s may:
