For the first time in history, over 7 million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s disease, and nearly 12 million Americans are providing informal, unpaid help for these patients. Recent research shows that over 83% of help provided to Alzheimer’s patients comes from friends, family, and other unpaid loved ones. In 2024, these caregivers provided over 19.2 billion hours of unpaid assistance, valued at around $413.5 billion. The help that dementia and Alzheimer’s caregivers provide is immensely valuable, and yet this is a population that is quite often neglected by society. Caregiving is a noble and honorable role, but it is also an under-supported one and that comes at a cost. In data collected by the Alzheimer’s Association, about 59% of caregivers reported the emotional stress from caregiving as “high” or “very high”, and 38% reported physical stress as “high” or “very high”. Studies show that dementia caregivers are at an increased risk of experiencing depression, anxiety, and various physical health conditions, including heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and stroke. Many caregivers report feeling isolated, lonely, overwhelmed, helpless, frustrated, anxious, and hypervigilant. As the number of Americans diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease is expected to continue rising, we really need a full-scale, national approach to supporting their caregivers. Even with all the reported challenges of caregiving, the National Poll on Healthy Aging found that 45% of caregivers experienced their role as “very rewarding.” I believe that this is the paradoxical nature of the caregiving role and I enjoy helping caregivers find ways to reduce their stress so that they can tap into the positive, rewarding aspects of their role as much as possible.

Source: Alzheimer’s Association 2025 Alzheimer’s Disease Facts and Figures

https://www.alz.org/getmedia/ef8f48f9-ad36-48ea-87f9-b74034635c1e/alzheimers-facts-and-figures.pdf