In the last year, providing care for another person has become increasingly stressful for many adults in the United States. During the pandemic, many families faced new challenges without proper support. Recently, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a striking report on the effects of this past year’s stresses on our nation of caregivers. In their study, the CDC assessed the mental health of adults who provide unpaid care for a child, adult, or both.
Overall, 70% of all caregivers in the study reported recent adverse mental health symptoms, which included symptoms of anxiety and depression. This percentage was even higher for adults with both parenting and adult caregiving responsibilities, surpassing 85%. These statistics are alarming and worrisome, as family caregivers are invaluable to our communities and the healthcare system, and we as a society must provide support to prevent and alleviate these adverse mental health symptoms.
At CaringWire, our mission is to engage and empower family caregivers to help make the complex task of providing care for an adult more manageable and rewarding. We believe that holistically supporting an adult’s family and supporters leads to safer and healthier outcomes for all. Below, we have summarized some of the CDC report’s other key findings, and explained how we at CaringWire help support family caregivers.
FACT: 43% of adults are caregivers (for either someone under 18 or someone over 18).
Caregiving isn’t a challenge for only a handful of people. Nearly half the U.S. is looking after someone they care about. When you are feeling overwhelmed, you don’t need to feel alone. CaringWire can help you get support from other caregivers who have faced similar challenges. Others who have been in your shoes are willing to help answer the questions you have so you can confidently face tomorrow’s challenges.
If you need to ask a question quickly, CaringWire has an online community-run forum where caregivers just like you provide helpful advice.
FACT: 23% of adults are sandwich caregivers (caring for both someone under 18 and someone over 18). 3 out of 4 (78%) sandwich caregivers are 18-44 years old.
Caring for an adult is challenging, especially for parents of children, and often a whole team of individuals is involved in this care. However, coordinating this care between different helpers is challenging, and conflict may arise. If you are struggling to coordinate care, CaringWire’s expert articles and tips can help by offering simple and easy strategies that encourage discussion and planning.
For those that need more help than family or friends can provide, we also connect you with highly rated, local service providers that can assist with specialized care tasks such as grooming, bathing, meal preparation, shopping, transportation, and others.
FACT: Parents, guardians, and unpaid caregivers of adults could benefit from increased access to mental health resources and support.
Mental health resources, even when they are available, are often not utilized by those caring for another person. In many cases, this is either because the caregiver is unaware of the support available to them, or they unfortunately just do not prioritize their own needs. We aim to encourage caregivers to recognize their own value and then connect them with resources so they have the proper tools and support to take on new challenges.
FACT: Caregivers who had greater support had lower odds of experiencing any adverse mental health symptoms.
We’re here to provide this support, even in the hardest times. We help you review your situation and then connect you to the resources you need to help overcome worries and anxiety. We offer a variety of brief articles written by healthcare professionals and experts on family caregiving that are filled with valuable tips and advice. Go to www.caringwire.com/onboarding to get started.
Source:
Czeisler, Mark É. "Mental Health Among Parents of Children Aged less than 18 Years and Unpaid Caregivers of Adults During the COVID-19 Pandemic—United States, December 2020 and February– March 2021." MMWR. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report 70 (2021).
