Impact of Caregiving Facts

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Impact of Caregiving

Facts:

  • Elderly spousal caregivers with a history of chronic illness themselves who are experiencing caregiving related stress have a 63% higher mortality rate than their non-caregiving peers.

    (Source: Schulz, R. and Beach, S. R. Caregiving as a Risk Factor for Mortality: The Caregiver Health Effects Study, Journal of the American Medical Association, December 15, 1999, Vol. 282, No. 23)
  • The stress of family caregiving for person's with dementia has been shown to impact a person's immune system for up to three years after their caregiving ends thus increasing their chances of developing a chronic illness themselves.

    (Source: Drs.Janice-Kiecolt Glaser and Ronald Glaser 'Chronic stress and age-related increases in the proinflammatory cytokine IL-6', Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, June 30, 2003.)
  • Family caregivers who provide care 36 or more hours weekly are more likely than non-caregivers to experience symptoms of depression or anxiety. For spouses the rate is six times higher; for those caring for a parent the rate is twice as high.

    (Source: Cannuscio, CC, C Jones, I Kawachi, GA Colditz, L Berkman and E Rimm, Reverberation of family illness: A longitudinal assessment of informal caregiver and mental health status in the nurses' health study. American Journal of Public Health 2002; 92:305-1311.)
  • Family caregivers providing high levels of care have a 51% incidence of sleeplessness and a 41% incidence of back pain.

    (Source: National Family Caregivers Association, Caregiving Across the Life Cycle, 1998)