GUEST COLUMN Serving on the front lines of care

With health care on the docket in Washington, it's a particularly relevant time to talk about the changing landscape of aging and long-term care. By 2030, one in five Americans will be 65 or older. And as the aging population increases, the need for caregivers will also grow, especially in the field of memory care.

Health care analysts predict that the number of Alzheimer's patients will rise from the 5.5 million now to 8.5 million by 2030. This begs the question: As we live longer, sometimes with chronic conditions, who will continue to care for us as we age?

Meeting the long-term care demands of aging Americans and dementia patients in the years to come will fall to nurses, doctors and geriatric care providers, but above all, unpaid caregivers. At present it's estimated that 83 percent of help provided to aging Americans comes from family members, friends and other unpaid caregivers, but most often-adult daughters.

According to the Alzheimer's Association, women and adult daughters are taking on the bulk of responsibility, making up two-thirds of the caregiving force because of their desire to keep a family member or friend at home, their closeness to a loved one with dementia, and in many cases, a perceived obligation as a wife and partner. Health care experts who recently published an article on women's role in dementia care in the medical journal JAMA Neurology go so far as to say that "the best long-term care insurance in our country is a conscientious daughter."

And that's not good news-for women, or our society as a whole. Our wives, sisters and daughters are dedicating so much of their time and energy towards caregiving that they have little left for themselves, and this is taking a serious toll on their health and well-being.

On average, a person with dementia requires 171 hours of care per month (roughly 100 hours more than someone without dementia). Because of the nature of dementias like Alzheimer's disease, dementia caregivers tend to provide more extensive assistance, helping someone with dementia with everything from household chores, transportation and meal preparation to bathing, grooming, toileting and feeding. And many of the women providing this level of care fall into the "sandwich generation" - those who are raising their own children while simultaneously caring for aging parents, often while working a full-time job.

The Alzheimer's Association highlights that women who care for someone with dementia are likely to experience higher levels of burden, depression and health issues than men because they take on the majority of care responsibilities - tasks that are often made more difficult by the complex and unpredictable symptoms and behaviors of individuals with dementia. When stress caused by balancing work, family and caregiving duties becomes too much, women often opt to cut down from full-time to part-time work. So in addition to impacting women's health, the demands of long-term care can also have negative financial implications for women, their families and even their employers.

The result: We're already exhausting our most reliable health care resource, and rising demands will continue to disproportionately strain working-age women. Unfortunately, there's no clear road map in place to alleviate this strain on America's unpaid caregivers in the coming years. There are some wonderful senior care communities, many with dedicated memory care programs and staff, that can take the burden of round-the-clock caregiving off unpaid caregivers' shoulders. But for many families, the cost of long-term care can be prohibitive.

If you are one of the millions of Americans providing primary care for a family member or loved one with dementia, know that there are programs in place that can give you some much needed support and relief from your everyday caregiving responsibilities. Many assisted living and skilled nursing communities offer short-term respite stays in fully-furnished apartments to memory care patients. Your local council on aging may also offer respite and companionship programs that bring volunteers into the home to give family caregivers a break and time for themselves. In-home care organizations like Visiting Angels can provide services such as home care, personal care, social care and dementia care on an as-needed basis.

If you have questions about supporting a loved one living with memory impairment, or would like more information about memory care and respite programs, feel free to contact me at rgonalves@wingatesrc.com. If you are one of the millions of Americans caring for a family member or friend, I salute you. Caring for a family member at home is an act of deep kindness and devotion - and America is taking notice.

-Rodney Gonsalves is regional vice president of operations at Wingate Healthcare, a local senior living provider, which includes Wingate at Weston. He has served as an administrator of nursing home and assisted living communities for 15 years.