Vim & Vigor - Fall 2019 - PARRISH - 27

WEIGHING OPTIONS

Families facing decisions about caregiving need to consider all available options, Locker says. Her practice tries
to help families work through the possibilities, including
having siblings split up the work or having parents pay
for care if they're able, rather than children providing it.
MetLife's report on caregiving costs offers similar
advice: "Both male and female family caregivers need to
be more aware of the long-term financial implications of
leaving work or dropping back to part time in order to
care for older relatives."
Locker advises giving caretaking a trial run.
"We try to counsel our clients on taking family leave,"
she says. "Take a short break from your job, do the caretaking and see how hard it really is."
For people looking to plan ahead for when they might
need caregiving or need to provide it, the Merrill Lynch
report recommends looking into long-term care insurance and designating savings for healthcare costs in
retirement. Experts also recommend having advance
conversations with family to discuss wishes and potential strategies in case care is needed.
With some planning, families can have a better shot at
a caregiving solution that works best for everybody, so it
doesn't simply fall to an overworked daughter. ■

UNIQUE DEMANDS:
PROVIDING CARE
FOR ALZHEIMER'S
AND DEMENTIA
Experts agree that being a caregiver for someone with Alzheimer's disease or another type of
dementia is particularly taxing.
A person can live with Alzheimer's for a long
time, says Janet Rooks, dementia care practitioner for Senior Solutions at Parrish Healthcare. It
could be four years, or it could be 20. Because
the disease is progressive, Rooks adds, the person living with Alzheimer's will need increasingly
more care until he or she is totally dependent
on a caregiver.
The stress inherent to this type of caregiving has mental health consequences. About 30
to 40% of caregivers for people with dementia
report suffering from depression, well above the
5 to 17% of the general population of similar
ages who have depression.
The financial needs are also intense: Dementia
caregivers report twice the average annual
out-of-pocket costs ($10,697) compared with
caregivers of patients without dementia. Nearly
half of dementia caregivers report cutting
back on spending, and more than 40% cut back
on saving because of out-of-pocket costs.
Help is available, and caregivers of those with
dementia can benefit from:
3 Counseling
3 Support groups
3 Respite-planned, temporary relief for
the caregiver through substitute care
3 Structured educational programs
3 Structured therapeutic programs
Rooks says these caregivers should build
a support network, understand the respite
services available in their community and get
the help they need.

EVENT

Caregiver Support
Get help from others in your community
at Caregiver Academy, hosted by Parrish
Healthcare. For a list of upcoming dates,
visit parrishvigor.com/calendar.

FALL 2019

http://www.parrishvigor.com/calendar

Vim & Vigor - Fall 2019 - PARRISH

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