Half of the nation’s 40 million family caregivers are performing complicated medical and nursing tasks, including giving injections, preparing special diets, managing tube feedings, and handling medical equipment, often with little or no training. Home Alone Revisited, a survey published by an alliance that includes UHF, presents new data on what family caregivers who perform medical and nursing tasks are experiencing.
The report offers an in-depth look at the responsibilities of family caregivers and shows wide diversity in their age, sex, and ethnicity: one in four caregivers are millennials (ages 22 to 37), and men account for 40 percent of all caregivers. The study also found that many caregivers feel socially isolated, and that 70 percent worry about pain management.
Home Alone Revisited was produced by the founders of the Home Alone Alliance—AARP, UHF, Family Caregiver Alliance, and University of California at Davis-Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing, with funding from The John A. Hartford Foundation to the AARP Foundation. It builds on the landmark Home Alone study released in 2012, the first national look at how family caregivers were managing medical/nursing tasks, such as administering medications, changing dressings, and other tasks in the home that are typically performed by trained professionals in hospitals.
For more information, visit www.aarp.org/homealone.