The annual report from the Alzheimer’s Association highlights how people are impacted by diseases of dementia.
An estimated 70% of family caregivers are stressed by coordinating care for someone with dementia, according to the report.
Family caregivers, as opposed to paid caregivers, are relatives, friends or neighbors who help with daily activities like making appointments and getting groceries.
In Georgia, that’s about 374,000 people balancing work and home responsibilities.
MORE: Georgia has a plan to support families caring for dementia patients
It’s not just families but business owners and policy makers who are seeing the need to better support caregivers, said Linda Davidson, the executive director of the Georgia chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association.
Because we’re all aging, she said.
“We have policy makers that probably are closer to some of the ages that we see this disease,” Davidson said. “I think when you realize that it could affect you or affects a loved one in your family, you’re more apt to at least be a champion for us.”
1 in 5 women and 1 in 10 men will be diagnosed with dementia in their lifetime, she said.
“To me, it’s staggering to think that 1 in 3 seniors die with Alzheimer’s or another dementia,” she said. “To me, that is huge. That’s a large number.”
The report estimates Alzheimer’s and dementia family caregivers across Georgia provide 755 million hours of unpaid care valued at more than $11.4 billion.
