I’ve read the stats. I know that there are 44,000,000 caregivers of aging parents and other relatives over the age of 50 out there. And I know this number is growing every day. But I’m still surprised when some weeks it seems like everyone I meet is a caregiver.
Recently we met with an insurance agent to go over the options for Medicare Supplemental and Medicare Advantage plans as Bill approaches retirement. A couple of hours into the meeting we found we were all sharing stories about each of our experiences with our parents and in-laws and their declining health and increasing needs. A few days later as I left my massage therapist’s office, I became involved in a conversation with her next client who was discussing her fears about her nonagenarian grandmother’s care.
Worries about the care of elderly relatives are not limited to what is usually thought of as the typical parent caregiver age demographic–the 50’s and 60’s. Even among my children’s friends we have found an eagerness to explore caregiving questions and concerns. As soon as people learn that Bill and I are caregiver bloggers, we discover that they have a story to tell, and this story is often a familiar and heart-breaking tale of the long slow slide of a parent or grandparent into overwhelming need.
What do I do when I hear these stories? I let the teller know that I understand and that they are not alone. I hand them our Inside Aging Parent Care contact information and invite them to sign on anytime. I pass on the news that many organizations including AARP are waking up to the reality that large numbers of their members are also caregivers. New programs are being developed everyday to help the caregiver with information and coping skills. I tell them that I believe that even with all the love and goodwill in the world this is one of the toughest jobs we’ll be called upon to do in life.
Here is an interview conducted by Susan Bida of Ecare Diary at the most recent AARP conference. Susan is talking to Eleanor Ginzler who is Senior Vice President of AARP’s Office of Social Impact. They discuss AARP’s initiative, A Celebration of Caregiving, at the conference as well as AARP’s ongoing services for caregivers.
i am an american and i moved to thailand [it could have been practically anywhere in asia] because when you get old here you are not driven to some place you have never been before and dumped off with promises by your children that they will visit when they can. we in the west are kicked out of the nest too early and are made to grow up too fast. then often our live takes on a ‘me’ dimension. you then begin your own life with your own family and no one in your new family has the same connection to your childhood family that you do. you all grow apart and then one day your parents need your help but you are too busy with your own life. and then you feel depressed because you know you should take care of your parents as they took care of you but you really don’t have the time so you so the only thing you can with a problem like this. it is what americans do to solve many of their problems… we throw money at it. it is very sad.