They have many more if you're interested.
On average, caregivers spend:
- 13 days each month on tasks such as shopping, food preparation, housekeeping, laundry, transportation, and giving medication;
- 6 days per month on feeding, dressing, grooming, walking, bathing, and assistance toileting;
- 13 hours per month researching care services or information on disease, coordinating physician visits or managing financial matters. [Gallup-Healthways. (2011). Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index.]
- Of family caregivers who provide complex chronic care:
- 46% perform medical and nursing tasks;
- More than 96% provide help with activities of daily living (ADLs) such as personal hygiene, dressing and undressing, getting in and out of bed, or instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs) such as taking prescribed medications, shopping for groceries, transportation, or using technology, or both. [AARP and United Health Hospital Fund. (2012). Home Alone: Family Caregivers Providing Complex Chronic Care.]
- On average, caregivers perform 1.7 of 6 ADLs, most commonly getting in and out of beds and chairs (43%). [National Alliance for Caregiving and AARP. (2015). Caregiving in the U.S.]
- On average, caregivers perform 4.2 of 7 IADLs, most commonly transportation (78%), grocery or other shopping (76%), and housework (72%). [National Alliance for Caregiving and AARP. (2015). Caregiving in the U.S.]
- 57% of caregivers report that they do not have a choice about performing clinical tasks, and that this lack of choice is self-imposed.
- 43% feel that these tasks are their personal responsibility because no one else can do it or because insurance will not pay for a professional caregiver.
- 12% report that they are pressured to perform these tasks by the care receiver.
- 8% report that they are pressured to perform these tasks by another family member. [AARP and United Health Hospital Fund. (2012). Home Alone: Family Caregivers Providing Complex Chronic Care.]
- Caregivers report holding significant decision-making authority regarding the following:
- Monitoring of the care recipient’s condition and adjusting care (66%);
- Communicating with healthcare professionals on behalf of the care recipient (63%);
- Acting as an advocate for the care recipient with care providers, community services, or government agencies (50%). [National Alliance for Caregiving and AARP. (2015). Caregiving in the U.S.]
As you can see, being a caregiver is a fulltime job, only it isn't just 8:00-5:00 Monday through Friday. It's accidents and falls and spills in the middle of the night. It's dealing with a medical emergency on a Sunday morning. It's coordinating transportation and doctor's appointments and tracking medicine and cooking and cleaning. It's exhausting and too much for one person to handle. So, if you know someone who's a caregiver, please reach out and offer them help or a reprieve, and please pray for them daily.
Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.
Now we ask you, brothers and sisters, to acknowledge those who work hard among you, who care for you in the Lord and who admonish you. Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. Live in peace with each other. And we urge you, brothers and sisters, warn those who are idle and disruptive, encourage the disheartened, help the weak, be patient with everyone. Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always strive to do what is good for each other and for everyone else.
Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
1 Thessalonians 5:11-18 NIV
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Please join me this week in praying for a caregiver. They need our prayers as much (if not more) than those they are caring for. Pray for them to have strength and patience. Pray for assistance for them if you can't be there to help. If the caregiver is you, pray to your Father for help and guidance and whatever your needs may be.
I'll post daily reminders on:
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