Posts Tagged ‘statistics’
AARP Finds Toll On Family Caregivers Is ‘Huge’
07/18/2011
Valuing the Invaluable: The Growing Contributions and Costs of Family Caregiving is a new study by the AARP that estimates a value of $450 billion a year for work done by more than 40 million Americans caring for an elderly or disabled loved one. That may be a bargain for society, but it’s a “huge” burden on the family members.
Cymando Henley’s mom was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis as he started college. Now she’s in a wheelchair, and Henley has been taking care of her ever since – for nearly twenty years now – helping her in and out of bed and onto the toilet, and even rolling her over in the middle of the night if she gets uncomfortable. Social programs help pay for about 35 hours a week of in-home health care, but Henley puts in at least that much himself for free, on top of working at a full-time job. Such non-medical care from a professional can cost tens of thousands of dollars a year.
Listen to the story or read about it at NPR.org.
Read the rest of this entry »
Dementia and Alzheimer’s disease – Facts & Figures
06/28/2011
So far we’ve not spent much time covering technologies that can help with dementia, but we discovered this moving YouTube video citing many statistics about Alzheimer’s disease, which is the most common form of dementia.
For more statistics and information about Alzheimer’s disease and dementia, Read the rest of this entry »
The World’s Population is Aging – Rapidly
06/16/2011
Increased longevity and very low birth rates are changing the world population mix and stressing both retirement financing and health care systems since the need for medical attention increases with age. The population of children under 5 years old will soon peek and gradually decline, while the number of people ages 65+ is increasing. By 2050, some 1.5 billion older people ages 65+ will represent 16% of the globe, up from just 5% in 1950.
