By
Kathleen Bogolea, MS
Since the adoption of
the National Family Caregiver Support Program in late 2000, there have
been numerous news articles and points of interests written about the
family caregiver and their many different roles within the family and
the community. Roughly, it is estimated that American families provide
80 to 90 percent of all in-home long term care services for their aging
family members, disabled adult children and other loved ones. These
services may include assistance with activities of daily living (ADL’s),
medical services coordination, medical supervision, administration of
medications and assistance with financial, legal, spiritual and
emotional concerns. These services are priceless and the family
caregivers that provide them often go unrecognized and over utilized
which can lead to great stress for the family caregiver. In contrast,
if these same services were to be provided by our national health care
system, it would be estimated at approximately 250 billion dollars per
year.
Recently, and of
particular interest, there is a new buzz around a subset of caregivers
known as the “Sandwich Generation”. These are caregivers who find
themselves squeezed in between caring for younger loved ones such
as children, and their elder parents or other elder family members.
While the Sandwich Generation is not a new form of family caregiving,
these caregivers are receiving a long overdue peaking of interest within
American society.
Currently, the typical
American Sandwich Generation Caregiver is in her mid-forties, married,
employed and cares for her family and an elderly parent, usually her
mother. With this said, it is important to note that there are more and
more men that find themselves in a caregiving role and even squeezed
in between the generations. It is also important to note that there is
an ever-growing segment of family and sandwich generation caregivers
that live in rural communities. Unlike caregivers living in urban and
industrial areas, rural caregivers may find themselves removed from
readily available and professionally organized supportive services and
care networks. They may also find themselves not only carrying the
normal burdens that are associated with providing care for a loved one,
but also they may be faced with challenges such as geographic barriers
to resources and isolation from other caregivers, family members or
informal supports. This lack of service availability, care networks,
and isolation from other caregivers and family members can add to
caregiver stress, burnout, and depression.
