Dementia caregiving by the numbers

Caregivers of people with dementia shoulder a particularly heavy burden of care, taking on duties that are often more physically and emotionally draining compared to the work of other caregivers.

• 65 percent provide the most difficult kinds of care - bathing, feeding and dealing with incontinence - tasks that are even harder to do for a person with dementia who frequently can’t assist in even basic activities.
• 1 in 4 provide constant care, committing 40 hours a week or more.
• They do so for a long period of time: 71 percent for more than a year and 32 percent for five years or more.
• The majority work full or part time.
• Two-thirds of working dementia caregivers reported missing work due to caregiving responsibilities.
• 1 in 5 dementia caregivers is in fair or poor health themselves.
• About half use paid help or supportive services; only 9 percent use temporary respite care, and 11 percent participate in support groups.
• The average age of the care recipient is 78; the primary caregiver for a person with dementia is more often a child than a spouse.

Source: “Caregiving in the U.S.,” a 2004 report issued by the National Alliance for Caregiving and AARP.