Can Family Caregivers Reduce Hospital Costs?

What are family caregivers worth? As the credit card commercial says, they are priceless. But they also have a financial value. And calculating that value is important as we consider ways to help them. For example, before Congress creates new government supports for family members who help aging parents or other relatives with disabilities, it will want to know if that assistance could reduce other government spending.

There are lots of ways to figure what caregiving is worth. For example, you could calculate what it would cost if all those family caregivers were paid market rates for the personal care they provide. AARP figures the economic value of family care could be as much as $470 billion annually. Or you could try to calculate the lifetime financial sacrifice of a daughter who abandons her career to help a relative. By one estimate, the lifetime cost to a 50-something woman who quits her job to care for an aging parent can be as much $300,000 in lost wages and retirement benefits.

Stepping Up to Support Family Caregivers

Family caregivers are doing more than ever to support their family members, neighbors and friends who have long-term or chronic health needs.  They shop, cook, drive and manage finances. They bathe, dress, toilet and feed.

Most also do things they never even dreamed they would need to do — unless they went to nursing school. They give dozens of pills, eye drops, patches, suppositories, injections, even intravenous medications at home. They perform wound care and manage colostomies and tube feedings. They manipulate special equipment and figure out special diets. They deal with incontinence. And more.

The truth about Alzheimer’s

June is Alzheimer’s and Brain Awareness Month, and we want you to learn more about a disease that affects 5.4 million people nationwide. Take a look at these little known facts and common misconceptions.

Fact: Alzheimer’s Disease is the 6th leading cause of death nationally
Alzheimer’s is fatal. It trails only heart disease, cancer, chronic lower respiratory diseases, accidents, and stroke. One in three seniors dies from Alzheimer’s or another dementia.

Myth: Memory loss is the only symptom of Alzheimer’s
Memory loss is a symptom, but depression, anxiety, irritability, and changes in appetite can occur before serious memory problems are noticed.

Let employers know when you're a caregiver

About three weeks ago, my husband and I entered a line of work neither of us had any experience in -- that of a caregiver to an aging parent. In 2007, my husband's mother had an aneurysm burst, but with surgery and a lengthy recovery time, she returned to good health.

Last fall, little changes and mannerisms began to emerge, and she returned to the doctor. That trip to the doctor resulted in surgery, which unfortunately was not a success. Sadly, the aneurysm continues to swell at a slow pace, accompanied by a slow decline in her health. Currently, she is confined to a wheelchair with little left of her balancing capabilities. After much thought, it was decided she should move in with us.

What to Do if a Person with Dementia Wanders?

Enrolling someone in a Silver Alert program puts their name and information into a database. If an emergency occurs, the profile is then sent to local police stations or broadcast to the public. In Phoenix, for example, Silver Alerts are broadcast onto official highway message signs. Not every state offers this type of program, but if offered, it is definitely an advantage. 

Beyond Silver Alerts, there are new technologies constantly emerging to help wanderers return home more quickly. There are bracelets, tennis shoes, long-range medical alert necklaces, and more that all have GPS tracking devices in them. These technologies are not to replace actual human monitoring, but can provide a little bit of extra help in the worst-case scenario. If someone truly becomes lost, a GPS device can be a lifesaver.

Could Alzheimer’s Stem From Infections? It Makes Sense, Experts Say

Could it be that Alzheimer’s disease stems from the toxic remnants of the brain’s attempt to fight off infection?

Provocative new research by a team of investigators at Harvard leads to this startling hypothesis, which could explain the origins of plaque, the mysterious hard little balls that pockmark the brains of people with Alzheimer’s.

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Paid family leave: burden or boon?

In early October, I wrote about the “Beyond Dollars” report that had just been released by insurance holding company Genworth Financial. The study, in part, detailed the negative job-related consequences faced by some family caregivers.

Supporting Children Who Serve as Caregivers

In the normal scheme of things, parents and grandparents take care of children when they’re sick or need help or sustenance. But in well over a million American families, this pattern is reversed, with children as young as 8, 9 or 10 partly or fully responsible for the welfare of adults or siblings they live with.

They may have to shop, prepare meals, clean house, do the laundry and tend to the hygienic needs of family members unable to care for themselves.

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Men's Y Chromosome Loss Tied to Alzheimer's Risk

Men who lose Y chromosomes from their blood cells as they age may have an increased risk of developing Alzheimer's disease, a new study suggests.

The study of more than 3,200 men found those who already had Alzheimer's were nearly three times more likely to show a loss of the Y chromosome in some of their blood cells. What's more, older men with that "loss of Y" faced a higher risk of developing Alzheimer's over the next eight years.

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Alzheimer’s Caregivers: When Your Loved One Needs Hospice Care

When a loved one has Alzheimer’s there are five situations that may occur that are especially difficult to come to terms with. These include 1) when it’s time to move the person to a facility, 2) if the person finds a new love interest, 3) when the person no longer talks, 4) when the person no longer recognizes you, and 5) when it’s time to engage hospice care services. This article will look at that last item.

The need to involve hospice can be extremely difficult and even depressing. It’s common to dwell on dark thoughts of impending death. Some families delay ordering hospice care because it would force them to acknowledge that the end is near and they just can’t deal with that.

Dementia Is Not a Death Sentence

Sitting on a bus the other day, I couldn’t help but overhear two women discussing their friend, who had recently been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. They expressed concern that they wouldn’t be able to talk to her anymore, that she’d no longer be able to join them for lunch or trips out. Their perception of Alzheimer’s was that it was like a particularly virulent form of cancer - that it would rob them of their friend in a matter of months.

5 Ways to Manage Alzheimer’s Aggression

When it comes to caring for a loved one with dementia, there is one behavior that many experts will fail to prepare friends and family members for- aggression. This is an often undiscussed yet very important side effect of Alzheimer’s disease and it is one that often catches many people off guard. While there are ways to manage aggressive behaviors that typically come with dementia, many doctors worry about over-medicating individuals with this condition and prefer to take a more hands-on, natural approach to managing aggression.