The “Caregiving Crisis” Is Here, And It’s About to Get So Much Worse

Have you heard of the “caregiving crisis” happening in America? When we look at the causes and effects, it becomes clear just how interwoven caregiving is into every aspect of American life and culture. This crisis is a national issue, and we will need to find national solutions. How did we get here, what are the problems that we’re facing, and what can we do? Here’s a breakdown:

1. Covid-19 exposed the devastating consequences of staff shortages in nursing homes. But the problem isn’t new (CNN): Covid-19 took a problem we already had and made it so much worse. As so many of the Newsletter’s readers know first-hand, caregiving is a difficult and often thankless job. Professional caregiving is low-paying work: throw a pandemic on top of that, and many caregivers and nurses decided to take early retirement or simply left the profession.

2. US Dementia Cases to Double by 2060, According to New Study (ScienceAlert): as we’ve struggled to maintain or increase the number of available caregivers, recent studies have projected that the number of cases of dementia will double in the next 35 years.

3. 5 Potential Causes of the Baby Boomer Caregiver Gap (University of Florida): at the same time, the oldest members of the Baby Boomer generation are turning 80 this year, and by 2030 every Baby Boomer will be 65+. That’s about 70 million people who will be added to the senior population in the coming decades.

4. The ‘caregiving cliff’ is imperiling the careers and well-being of U.S. employees as boomers age—with big implications for employers (Fortune): because of the factors above, Americans are becoming home and family caregivers at an accelerating rate. The costs of care can be prohibitive and a sense of family duty is strong, so they take on the role of caregiver themselves. As this article points out, this creates consequences for the larger American workforce.

5. Millennials and Gen Xers might be the unluckiest caregivers in history. Here’s how their crisis is affecting every workplace (Fortune): the workforce for Gen X and Millennials will be shaped by home and family caregiving. This article has tips for employers who want to assist their caregiving employees. If you are an employee, you might want to ask if your company offers any of these.

6. Addressing the Caregiver Crisis in US: The First National Strategy (CaregiverRelief): an excellent summary of the situation along with suggested solutions, both private and governmental, that we need to begin considering immediately.

7. Could Financial Relief for Family Caregivers Finally Be on the Way? (AARP): Legislation is on the table that could provide “a federal tax credit of up to $5,000 a year to help working family caregivers defray the costs of caring for a spouse or other loved one with long-term needs.” Some states are also considering legislation to assist.

🎉🪅🥳Celebrating 1,000 Subscribers!🎉🪅🥳

We made it to 1,000 subscribers this past week! Thank you all for being first 1,000 readers of The Dementia Newsletter. I’ll work hard to keep the momentum going by sending out quality content every week. Please share it with others who would find this information useful so we can keep growing!

As a thank you for being an early adopter, I’m giving you a coupon code for $5 off any educational product at elumenEd. Use code 9jokb4 at checkout on any of our products.

A couple of my personal favorites are:

• Kick Suffering’s @55 with Radical Acceptance ($9.99): watch out, there’s an unpopular statement coming! — The stuff we usually think of as “self-care” doesn’t help you. Go Google it: it’s same 10 tired suggestions on every web page telling you stuff you already know: exercise, eat right, get sleep... Those activities might ease your mind for the next 15 minutes, but that peace probably evaporates with an unkind word, a medication refusal, or a meddling relative. This is because real and lasting self-care isn’t an event. It’s a set of behaviors and a way of thinking that withstands the storms of caregiving. If you want to learn real strategies for peace, this course is unique, exciting, and will give you exactly what you need in order to achieve lasting resilience.

• The Behaviors Bundle: this bundle includes 6 separate courses offered at a deep discount of $24.99. (Purchased separately, they cost $42.00.) The six modules cover:

  • Resisting Care

  • Resistance to Bathing

  • Sleep Disturbances

  • Wandering and Elopement

  • Changing Sexual Behavior

  • Physical and Verbal Aggressiveness

Do you know how to handle these behaviors with grace and finesse? Do you know how the pros tackle each of these behaviors? Would you like to be ready for each of them before they happen? This bundle is the answer.

If you’d like help with your caregiving, these courses are a great place to start. You are guaranteed to love them or your money back, so use that coupon and upgrade your caregiving toolkit right now.

Phil Has Spoken: 6 More Weeks of Winter

I know, Groundhog Day is a little silly. But Phil’s 2025 prediction of 6 more weeks of winter is a great excuse to remind everyone that cold weather can be dangerous, even deadly, for our loved ones with dementia. We’re not through the winter yet, so check out the safety tips below from the Alzheimer’s Association.

• Pennsylvania’s most famous groundhog predicts six more weeks of winter (Metro Philadelphia)

• Winter Weather Safety Tips For Families Whose Loved Ones Are Dealing With Alzheimer’s (Alzheimer’s Foundation)

Some Feel-good Stories from Around the Globe

• How Young Advocates are Revolutionizing Dementia Support (ALZSD): this hopeful story makes me smile. If Kyla and Aadarsh are making such an amazing impact, what can the rest of us accomplish?!

• Unpaid caregivers find moments of joy in daily life (University of Michigan): we spend a lot of time looking at how to cope with the stress and sacrifice of caregiving. This researcher decided to take the opposite approach to find the joy.

• AARP Is Giving Congress 100 Reasons to Support Family Caregivers (AARP): there is some great advocacy for caregivers coming from AARP. “As a new administration takes over in Washington, D.C., AARP kicked off a campaign to urge Congress to pass the Credit for Caring Act, a proposal that would give working family caregivers a non-refundable tax credit to offset caregiving expenses.”

• How people affected by dementia are finding hope (The Guardian): how do we find hope in the midst of a dementia diagnosis? Read the stories of people who are living their best lives after a dementia diagnosis.

• And finally, Science Confirms That Cats Have a Positive Effect on Your Health! (Jason Deegan): adopt a furry companion today!

Score a win-win in the fight against dementia!

I hope you love reading our newsletter as much I love writing it! If you do, please check out our other reasonably priced educational materials. Every bit of support helps to fund this newsletter so you get timely and valuable information every week. Click the links below to see what’s on offer!