Evercare study: More Hours Spent Caregiving Equated with Greater Decline

Previous studies have shown that caregivers spend on average 4.5 years caregiving, with the needs escalating over time, thus impacting caregiver health significantly over that period (Caregiving in theU.S., AARP and National Alliance for Caregiving). The Evercare study revealed that the more time caregivers spend caring for a loved one, the greater their health decline. This is even more true for those caregivers providing a higher level intensity of caregiving such as giving medications or injections, bathing, feeding, dressing or other activities of daily living. Caregivers who reported their health got a lot worse as result of caregiving (15%) spend an average of 58 hours a week caregiving and those with a moderate deterioration in health (44 percent) spend an average of 42 hours a week caregiving.