“Unpaid caregivers provide $450 billion worth of care every year to someone who is ill, disabled or aged,” declares Jesse Slome, executive director of the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance, the national long term care insurance industry trade group.

“Caregiving for a family member today is almost a requirement unless you have the savings or assets to pay for outside help,” Slome explained.  “People wrongly believe that Medicare pays for the type of care which is called long-term care but the reality is that Medicare pays very little of the cost and Medicaid is a severely impacted welfare program for the poor.”

The national long term care insurance expert pointed to a just published study ‘Retirement Care Planning The Middle Income Boomer Perspective” that surveyed adult caregivers between the ages of 49 and 67 with household incomes of between $25,000 and $75,000.   The study found that caregiving cost more than expected, impacted their existing relationships and took a more physical toll than previously thought.

“The reality today is that more Americans will live into their 90s and 100s than ever before and very few have any plan in place for living to 100,” Slome declared.  “We call today for heightened education and awareness as an important first step to addressing the problem that is facing millions of families.  Without a solution, families will pay the heaviest price as will taxpayers who will be expected to foot the bill for the neediest who require care.”

“People need to understand that there are only three options when care is needed,” Slome adds.  “Turn family members into caregivers, pay for outside care from your savings or convert assets, or have some long term care insurance to pick up some of the costs.”  The executive noted that insurance is only a viable option for those who can health qualify for coverage.

“Insurance companies need to keep long term care insurance costs as low as possible so they only will offer coverage to those who are in relatively good health when they apply,” Slome explains.  “We hate having to tell people with health issues or those who wait until their 70s or 80s that insurance is probably not an option for them.”

The Association urged individuals between ages 50 and 70 gain a greater understanding of the risks and costs.  The organization makes available free online consumer guides to long term care insurance planning and costs.  For additional information or to request long term care insurance costs and information connect with a designated long term care insurance specialist who is a member of the Association by calling the organization at 818-597-3227 or visiting their website.

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As aging baby boomers enter retirement years, there is a growing concern as to who will care for them as they reach into their 80s, 90s and beyond. Traditionally in the United States, adult children have accepted the caregiving responsibilities for aging parents. 

“Those caregiving roles are becoming increasingly blurred as more families are affected by divorce and remarriage than in previous decades,” explains Jesse Slome, executive director of the American Association for Long Term Care Insurance, the national organization.  “There will not be the same family network and expect much stress and strife over who is going to care for mom or dad, if anyone is even willing to take on that enormous burden.” 

Relationship quality trumps genetic ties when determining caregiving obligations according to a study by University of Missouri researchers.  They studied how divorce and remarriage affect beliefs about who should care for aging relatives.

The researchers found that relationship quality, including a history of mutual help, and resource availability influenced decisions about who cares for aging parents and stepparents.  The old concept that family obligations are based on genetic ties is no longer true for most Americans, the researchers report.  How close family members are to each other, how much they have been helped by them in the past, and what hardships caregiving might place on family members are important factors when people consider caring for older relatives.

“We are clearly no longer a society that singularly relies on families to provide much of the care for aging parents and that is why every family needs to have the long term care discussion and a plan in place to address the eventuality of some need,” Slome adds.  “I like to say, long term care insurance allows a loved one to care about you, not to have to care for you.” 

Financial planning experts note that most people wait too long to consider their long term care planning options because the right time to plan is prior to turning age 65 before common medical conditions are diagnosed or become problematic.  “The sweet spot for http://www.aaltci.org/long-term-care-insurance/ long term care insurance is between ages 52 and 64,” Slome adds.  “You do not want to wait until after a doctor has diagnosed even a mild stroke because at that point it will very likely be too late to medically qualify for this protection.”

For more information on long term care insurance, visit the Association’s Consumer Information center.

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The robot uses high-precision tactile sensors and flexible motor control technology to lift patients weighing up to 80kg (180 pounds) off floor-level bedding and into a wheelchair.  The developers note this is intended to free care facility personnel of one of their most difficult and energy-consuming tasks.

Japan’s elderly population in need of nursing care is projected to reach a staggering 5.69 million by 2015 experts explain.  “Japan faces an urgent need for new approaches to assist care-giving personnel,” states Jesse Slome, executive director of the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance http://www.aaltci.org.  “The United States will soon be facing the very same issues.” 

Care experts noted that one of the most strenuous tasks for such personnel, carried out an average of 40 times every day, is that of lifting a patient from a futon at floor level into a wheelchair. Robots are well-suited to this task, yet none have yet been deployed in care-giving facilities.

In 2009, the RIKEN-TRI Collaboration Center for Human-Interactive Robot Research (RTC), a joint project established in 2007 and located at the Nagoya Science Park in central Japan, unveiled a robot called RIBA (Robot for Interactive Body Assistance) designed to assist in this task. The first robot capable of lifting a patient from a bed to a wheelchair and back, RIBA charted a new course in the development of care-giving robots, yet functional limitations prevented its direct commercialization.

In the future, Japanese researchers plan to work together with partner nursing care facilities to test RIBA-II and further tailor it to the needs of care-givers and their patients.  They explain their intent to also develop new applications in areas such as rehabilitation. 

Robots will one day enable individuals to remain in their own home rather than being forced into skilled nursing facilities, Slome predicts.  “This should be a most welcome development for millions of Americans though they can expected to be costly,” he notes  “People will either need to have the savings or insurance to cover the cost.”  Current forms of long-term care insurance that provide cash payments would cover the rental or purchase of robots. 

The Association urges consumers to learn more about long-term care planning and get long-term care insurance cost from a designated expert via the organization’s Consumer Information Center at http://www.aaltci.org/long-term-care-insurance/free-quote/.  “The best ages to start planning are between ages 52 and 62 when costs are lowest and you don’t risk being declined because of existing health conditions,” Slome explains.

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According to a new report by AARP, family members providing caregiver services for free is good for society.  But the researchers report that they need a lot more help.

“That could be the understatement of the year,” declares Jesse Slome, executive director of the Los Angeles-based American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance.  “Caregivers are the most under appreciated people in the country.  Well beyond the financial sacrifice, the emotional toll can not be calculated.” 

Lynn Feinberg, who co-authored the AARP study, says modern family caregiving is incredibly stressful.

“The burden on families is huge,” Feinberg says. “While families are stepping up to the plate and make this contribution to society, the cost to their own health and financial security is huge.” 

The AARP study found that caregivers who reduce work hours lose hundreds of thousands of dollars in income over a lifetime.   The researchers found that caregivers are also more prone to depression, physical ailments and social isolation. 

In 2009, about 42.1 million family caregivers in the U.S. provided care to an adult with limitations in daily activities at any given point in time, and about 61.6 million provided care at some time during the year.  

“Caregiver burn out is common and it will only grow as the huge wave of baby boomers ages,” Slome adds.  “Boomers have fewer adult children available to provide free care and high divorce rates make it more likely that aging boomers will be living alone when care is needed.”

The American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance called for increased consumer education.  “This is a new issue facing Americans and widespread education regarding planning options is necessary,” Slome states.  “Without planning, millions will turn to already strapped government programs like Medicare and Medicaid and millions will face no other option but to place someone in a nursing home, which is what nobody wants.” 

Last week, the Obama administration joined labor groups calling for the creation of 2 million more jobs in home health care, plus a new visa for immigrants willing to enter the field.  “That’s a good start but home care services can be very expensive and government programs will be increasingly limited in terms of available funds,” Slome explains.  “It’s important for people to either save for this contingency or have some limited long-term care insurance protection to cover costs should the need arise.”

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Those spouses who had the highest scores for strain had the highest risk scores for stroke. Strain was measured on a standard score by asking the participants how many days during the past week they had felt depressed, lonely, sad or had crying spells. The answers were matched to the Framingham Stroke Risk Score, which measures risk factors such as age, blood pressure, blood cholesterol levels, smoking and diabetes. 

A high score on the measure of strain was associated with an overall 23 percent higher risk of stroke. The association was stronger in husbands than in wives. It was highest in black men with high caregiving strain, with a 26.9 percent increased risk of stroke in the next 10 years. 

The researchers noted that for the most part, when men are caregivers they use more paid services.  Women are more prepared to be caregivers, and show less risk tied to strain.  

Another study from Sweden found that only half to three-quarters of people who survived strokes were still taking recommended drugs to prevent a new stroke two years later.   The study of more than 21,000 stroke survivors, average age 75, found that two years later, 26 percent had stopped taking drugs to control high blood pressure, 44 percent had stopped taking cholesterol-lowering statins, 36 percent had stopped taking clot-preventing medications and 55 percent were not taking the blood thinner warfarin.

The study is published in the online edition of Stroke.

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