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Caregiving

More and more women are becoming unpaid providers of long-term health care in the U.S. This is because 65 percent of people who get ill and need help with daily living depend solely on friends and family. Most caregivers are middle-aged, and 61 percent are women. Experts say that most Americans will be informal caregivers at some point in their lives. This means that during any given year, more than 44 million Americans give unpaid care to an older or disabled person who is 18 years or older. These unofficial caregivers help with anything from grocery shopping and house cleaning to dressing and using the toilet. More than half of them will give this help while also working at full or part-time jobs. Read on to learn more about caregiving.

In your own words
"At age 59, I became a full-time caregiver of my husband who had a debilitating stroke. At 74, I can no longer care for him. I had to give in to letting him go into a nursing home."

Additional Resources

Publications

Caregiving Resources — This resource list includes useful national organizations that are available to help find local resources and support groups for family caregivers.

http://www.niapublications.org/tipsheets/carelist.asp

Caregiving Across the States: A State-by-State Resource (Copyright © FCA) — This web site offers information about caregiver support programs available nationwide. It includes programs funded by the National Family Caregiver Support Program, aged/disabled Medicaid waivers, and state funded programs.

http://www.caregiver.org/caregiver/jsp/content_node.jsp?nodeid=1274

Resources for Caregivers 2007 (Copyright © NAC) — This brochure is designed to help individuals and families who have assumed the role of caregiver or anticipate future caregiving. This brochure provides mailing addresses, phone numbers and Internet addresses of national associations and organizations, plus an annotated list of caregiver-related books, videos and Web sites.

http://www.caregiving.org/pubs/brochures/resourcesforcaregivers07.pdf

Organizations

= Indicates Federal Resources

Content last updated March 5, 2009.