As I have watched my family age over the past 10 years I’ve certainly noticed the stress and burden that actually taking care of another person brings to the caregiver. I was reading an article published by Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on informal care, which is long term care provided to a person in his or her home by a caregiver who provides such care not as a job or to earn a living. The care may be provided by the children, relatives, friends or even a neighbor and is normally uncompensated. According to CMS statistics, family and friends are the sole long term caregivers for 70% of the seniors. The long term care care provided by informal caregivers is typically the type of care for which little or no professional training is needed, including:
• Providing companionship and moral support;
• Assisting with errands,shopping, household chores like laundry, taking out the trash, etc;
• Assisting with the person’s medications;
• Communicating with medical providers to ensure proper care
• Preparing meals;
• Providing transportation to Doctor appointments; and
• Managing finances, e.g. paying monthly bills, etc.
According to another study from 2002 on informal long term care-giving sponsored by the North Dakota Department of Human Resources, demographic information concerning North Dakota informal caregivers indicated
that:
• 46% spent $1,000 or less in the preceding year caring for the care recipient.
• 29% are between ages 65 and 74.
• 21% are between the ages of 55 and 64.
• 69% are married or living with a partner.
• 68% have no children in their home.
• 29% have a high school diploma or GED but no college education.
• 35% have attended or graduated from college.
• 41% are retired.
• 35% work full-time.
• 28% spend more than 20 hours weekly providing care.
• 78% receive no monetary compensation for their care-giving services.
• 46% are caring for their mother or mother-in-law.
Although this 2002 demographic information is specific to North Dakota, there is no reason to believe it does not generally apply to informal long term care givers in the entire United States. These statistics are shocking to me and it just seems as modern medicine continues to involve that people will live longer and with that increasing longevity comes more and more informal care-giving. If you have never thought about having insurance to pay for the care so the burden does not fall in the laps of your family you might want to take a look at a long term care insurance (LTC) policy. The LTC policy will cover all types of care including skilled, custodial ,and informal care. To get your long term care insurance quotes today simply fill in this form and we will shop the market for you and show the top 10 long term care insurance companies on the market.
