What do Family Caregivers do?
Being a family caregiver comes with a lot of work and a lot of hard decisions. In 2020, family caregivers have had to really push their powers to the limit and beyond. Many have full-time jobs, family commitments and children to care for as well. So, basically, we’re talking about superhumans here.
These superhumans evolved from regular humans. They’re parents, partners, adult children, children, grandchildren, siblings, aunts, nieces and nephews, in-laws, friends, and neighbors all over the US and the world.
Statistics About Family Caregiving
According to the National Alliance for Caregiving, an estimated 65.7 million Americans serve as family caregivers for an ill or disabled relative. As of 2020, 1 in 5 Americans are family caregivers. This is an increase of 9.5 million from 2015 to 2020.
Approximately 39.8 million or 16.6% of caregivers in the US provide care to adults with a disability or illness. 16.8 million or 14% of family caregivers care for a special needs child under 18 years old.
National Family Caregivers Month
2020 marks the 26th year of National Family Caregivers Month. National family caregivers month was originally established by President Clinton in 1997. The reason that there is an entire month dedicated to family caregivers is because it's an incredibly difficult job that needs recognition.
National Family Caregivers Month aims to raise awareness about the physical, emotional, mental, and financial toll that family caregivers can experience. As well as this, it serves to educate new family caregivers on the importance of self care, and provide support for all.
What Tasks do Family Caregivers do?
Family caregivers help their loved ones with a range of activities of daily living (ADLs). In a typical day, a family caregiver can help their relative with shopping for groceries, transportation, eating, dressing and undressing, personal hygiene, getting in and out of bed, or collecting and administering prescribed medications, as well as many other daily tasks.
According to Gallup, family caregivers spend an average of 13 days a month on food preparation, giving meds, grocery shopping, housekeeping, laundry, and transportation. Mealtimes, dressing, personal hygiene, restroom assistance, and walking are an average of 6 days per month. And 13 hours per month are spent on doctor visits, finances, and researching information on illness or disabilities.
Family Caregiving During COVID-19
COVID-19 has shown us that we need each other now more than ever. Friends, family, and neighbors have been carrying out random acts of kindness all across the globe to help get each other through this. There has been unrest due to unique challenges such as how to care for loved ones while staying socially distant. It’s a much larger task than usual, and people who have already been caregivers are absolutely imperative.
How Can You Help?
Raising awareness doesn't always mean telling other people. If you’re not personally a caregiver, doing by becoming involved and helping out will increase your own awareness.
Tiny acts of kindness for all caregivers can make a huge difference. To help, you could try cooking a caregiver or caree a meal, giving out personal protective equipment, reading stories through a security door, bringing in trash cans, making a grocery store run, giving away your kid’s old clothes to another family in need, baking a cake, making cookies, mowing the lawn, pulling up weeds, teaching someone a new skill on Zoom, or many other things that seem small but could mean the world to someone who is struggling. As long as you’re socially distanced and you sanitize everything, you should be in pretty good shape.
Are You a Caregiver?
If you're a caregiver, maybe this month is about raising awareness in and around your community. Maybe it’s about raising awareness about the struggles you’re facing.
When you're doing everything, it can be really hard to ask for help. But humans were built to give and care–we’re made to be a part of a whole. That’s probably why when one person helps another person, they get a kick of dopamine. So, by letting someone help, you could actually end up changing another person’s outlook, day, week, year, or life.
Right now is a time where, although it's very difficult to juggle even more, it's important to practice self-care. And if you don’t have the time or the energy, it’s time to ask for help. Remember that you’re not alone.
About Stephen’s Place
Stephen’s Place is an independent apartment community for adults with developmental and intellectual disabilities, located in Vancouver, WA (7 minutes from Portland, OR).
If you have a loved one with developmental or intellectual disabilities, who is looking for a community to live in, please contact us for more information.
Stephen’s Place is a private-pay apartment community due to our state-of-the-art amenities and programs. We are a nonprofit and do not profit from our community. We are private pay because we spend more than some housing communities to ensure that our residents are comfortable and can safely live their lives with independence and dignity.