Nearly 8 in 10 (79%) care for a loved one 50 or more years of age (averaging 75 years of age). Twenty percent care for someone 18-49 years (average age is 33 years).
Many people who are caregivers who also have a chronic illness.
Illness doesn’t just affect the individual. It affects everyone they know. If you are the caregiver friend or family member of someone who lives with chronic illness or pain, we thank you for taking the time to drop by our site & learn more about the emotions that they must be coping with as well as how you can outreach to them more effectively.
It’s no secret that chronic illness affects the entire family. It comes into the home like an uninvited guest & it becomes a team effort to learn to adjust to the changes that transpire. Part of the purpose of Rest Ministries, Inc. is to serve the family, as well as the individual, who has the chronic condition.
Caregivers come in many forms. For some of us a caregiver is a person that we pay to come into our home & help us out with certain tasks. For others of us, our caregiver is our well-spouse who helps us shower & dress each day. And many of us we may not even believe that we have a caregiver. We simply have a spouse that scrubs the shower or a neighbor that unscrews those tight lids.
According to the National Foundation Caregiver’s Association (NFCA), there are more than 25 million people who find themselves in a caregiving role & the numbers are growing daily. Although most of us may assume that we will be a caregiver for our parents, a recent survey conduced by NFCA found that 48% of caregivers were caring for their spouse, compared to 24% caring for a parent & 19% caring for a child.
As someone who is healthy, you may never underst& the daily issues that your loved one copes with. As a friend, you care. You want to help… but maybe you just don’t know what to say to bring comfort & not frustration. You may feel frustrated yourself, feeling like you’re walking a tightrope of helping too much & helping too little, saying the wrong thing & not saying anything at all. We are here to encourage you & to offer some tools that you can put to use in your relationship.
For more information click on the category “caregiver.”
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