Caregivers Need Care, Too
The American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) reports that over 69 million individuals in America provide care for an aged, chronically ill or disabled family member or friend during any given year. Family caregivers spend an average of 20 hours per week caring for their loved one, and the typical caregiver is a woman in middle age caring for a widowed parent—the AARP reports that 66 percent of family caregivers are women1. Senior home care business owners know the demands of caregiving and offer help to family and friends caring for loved ones.
The Economics of Caregiving
Caregiving can be not only physically and emotionally challenging but surprisingly expensive as well. Nearly half of working caregivers report that caregiving has caused them to exhaust all or most of their savings, and the caregivers over age 50 spend an average of $5,531 per year on out-of-pocket expenses2.
Impacts on Personal Health
Unfortunately, a significant number of caregivers who have cared for loved ones for five years or more report fair or poor health. And the effects can be lasting, especially when providing care for someone with Alzheimer’s or dementia. Many informal caregivers (e.g. family members who provide unpaid care for a loved one) have a tendency to put all of their energy into caring for others while neglecting themselves. But neglecting personal needs is detrimental to both the caregiver and the person being cared for. A person cannot adequately care for someone else long-term while neglecting their own needs.
This is where an in-home care assistant such as the highly trained aides at Always Best Care can be of great help. Home caregivers assist seniors with everyday tasks like bathing, dressing, cooking, shopping and bookkeeping. By freeing up time for family caregivers, in-home care professionals ultimately help ensure that time spent between family caregivers and their loved ones is quality time.
Always Best Care’s training, marketing and support have grown our franchisee’s revenue dramatically.download your copy of our FREE senior care franchising eBook to see how, and begin making a difference in your community today.
Please refer to our most recent Franchise Disclosure Document for important details.
