8 new facts about LTC caregivers who suffer

One new message for your clients may be this: The government has data showing that relatives who feel nervous about caregiving often hate at least some aspects of providing care.

A team of researchers has published data on how caregiving affects the caregivers in a major new report on caregiving prepared for the Office of Disability, Aging and Long-Term Care Policy, an arm of the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

In one section of the care needs report, the researchers use data from the 2011 National Health and Aging Trends Study (NHATS) to show what kinds of problems plague the people providing either general care or help with self-care, mobility and other “activities of daily living,” for their loved ones.

Like a companion report on unmet care needs, the caregiver impact report provides sobering data on what a lack of access to appropriate formal care can do to the caregivers.

Only 3.7 percent of the caregivers who say they are in excellent health and provide general help say they have seen substantial negative aspects as a result of caregiving. The percentage with serious problems rises to more than 30 percent for caregivers helping with ADLs who suffer from anxiety.

The researchers classified a caregiver as facing “substantial negative consequences” if the caregiver reported feeling exhaustion, a sense of having too much to do or a sense of having little free time.

One question long-term care (LTC) planners might ask clients is: If you expect to be a caregiver for someone else, how much anxiety do you feel already? Can you deal with more anxiety?

A question for clients who think they might need formal or informal care would: When you think about potential caregivers, just how calm are they today?

Here’s a look at how common various mental and physical problems are among the caregivers who provide help with ADLs, and how those factors correlate with the likelihood that the caregivers will suffer substantial problems as a result of providing care.

1. Breathing problems that limit activities

Frequency among:

Caregivers helping with ADLs: 7.8 percent. 

Caregivers reporting substantial negative aspects of caregiving: 22 percent.

Fortunately, this devastating problem is relatively rare among caregivers, but caregivers who face that challenge often report suffering from serious caregiving-related stress. Of course, the caregivers who must deal both with problems with breathing and severe stress may be at high risk for needing care themselves.

Image: Beornbjorn

2.  Anxiety

Frequency among:

Caregivers helping with ADLs: 15 percent.

Caregivers reporting substantial negative aspects of caregiving: 30 percent.

Not surprisingly, this problem is common among caregivers. It’s about as common among those providing any care as well as those helping with ADLs. 

Caregivers who report that they suffer from anxiety are more likely than any others to report that caregiving is a burden. Note that mild anxiety — like mild depression — is a condition that might, in some cases, be prevented, identified or addressed with relatively simple measures, such as online or telephone-based support programs.

Image: Ammentorp Photography

3. Depression

Frequency among:

Caregivers helping with ADLs: 15 percent.

Caregivers reporting substantial negative aspects of caregiving: 29 percent.

Depression — anxiety’s energy-draining sibling — may make caregiving seem overwhelming.  

Image: kieterpix