Marguerite Manteau-Rao warn us about caregivers’ burn out. She says on the Huffington Post: “…For the 15 million in this country who are caring for a loved one with dementia*, this is what life is like — according to the Alzheimer’s Association 2012 Report:
- 61 percent of dementia caregivers suffer from high emotional stress
- 33 percent report symptoms of depression
- They experience caregiving strain regarding financial issues (56 percent), and family issues (53 percent).
- 43 percent experience high physical stress
- 75 percent are concerned about maintaining their health.
- Dementia caregivers are more likely to have adverse physiological changes such as high levels of stress hormones, reduced immune function, increased hypertension, coronary heart disease.
- 37 percent rate stress as their greatest difficulty.
- In the last year of their loved one’s life, 59 percent feel they are on duty 24 hours a day.
- 72 percent of caregivers express relief after their loved ones die.
When it comes to care for our loved ones, we worry about falls, their being alone and injured, time response to a crisis and most of the times, our alternative is moving them to an institution. Living Well Assisted Living at Home believes that there are options to give choices to the elders and peace of mind to the family members. Aging.com reported on 10 secrets that our aging parents keeps from us and some ways to deal with and approach them. I couldn’t help but think of all sorts of technology solutions (remote monitoring like GrandCare, Internet technology, etc.) that could assist in dealing with these 10 “secrets” shared in the story. Of course, technology is only one piece to the puzzle. 
