National Long-Term Care Awareness Month is an annual designation observed in November. Did you know that 70% of men and women over the age of 65 will need some kind of long-term care services? This kind of care can be very expensive, and can take a toll on the family as a whole as they try to figure out payment, roles of family members, and other logistics of making long-term decisions for a loved one. When taking care of someone long term, it usually means feeding them, helping with personal care, bathing them, and helping with other daily tasks. Let’s come together to recognize National Long-Term Care Awareness Month, and show support to those giving and receiving long-term care. Here’s a list of statistics surrounding long-term care in the United States.
78% of adults who are getting long-term care at home rely solely on family and friends for their assistance
The average caregiver is a woman around 46 years of age
On average, the caregiver spends about 21 hours per week assisting their patient or family member
Over 90% of family caregivers had to alter their work schedule permanently due to caring for their loved one
Around 40% of caregivers have had to switch from working full-time, to part-time.
Close to half said they had to skip vacation and other personal activities in order to take adequate care of their loved one
29% had to use their own money in providing care
More than 10% had to move in order to be closer to their family member in need of care
Around 10% had to take a pay cut at their full-time job
HOW TO OBSERVE
Use #LongTermCareAwarenessMonth to post on social media. Raise awareness about long-term care and acknowledge anyone you know that is or has been a caregiver before. The more we understand the emotional, physical, and economic toll that long-term care can take on loved ones, the more we can prepare for our own futures so we don’t become a burden to the people we love the most.
Another way you can honor National Long-Term Care Awareness Month is by looking into getting long-term-care insurance. This would mean that rather than having a family member come and take care of you, a nurse would come to take care of you every day. If you choose this route but don’t have insurance, you will likely pay around $140,000 out of pocket on average. Only a little over 7 million Americans have this type of insurance.
HISTORY
National Long-Term Care Awareness Month was founded in 2001 by the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance. Their goal is to get people to focus on long-term care awareness, and have a plan ready for themselves as they near age 65 or so.
Article information is from National Day Calendar