• The typical caregiver for someone with Alzheimer’s disease is female, 48 years of age, married, and employed with at least some college education.
• Over half of Alzheimer’s caregivers are female (59%) and 41% are male.
• One-half of all Alzheimer’s caregivers work full-time.
• The typical Alzheimer’s care recipient is 78 years old, a woman, and a widow; 35% of care recipients are 85 years of age or older.
• 42% of Alzheimer’s care recipients live in their own home, either alone (22%), with a spouse (14%), or with someone else (7%).
• 23% of Alzheimer’s caregivers report living with the care recipient. 12% of care recipients live in nursing homes; 7% live in assisted living facilities.

Relationships between Caregivers and Care Recipients

• 87% of Alzheimer’s caregivers are providing care for members of their family.
• 57% of Alzheimer’s caregivers provide care for a parent: 36% for their mother, 11% for their mother-in-law, 8% for their father, and 2% for their father-in-law.
• 16% of Alzheimer’s caregivers provide care to a grandparent.

Heavy Burdens of Care

• Compared to other care recipients, those with AD are older, frailer, and more likely to be described as disabled.
• 65% of Alzheimer’s caregivers assist with one or more activities of daily living, such as getting dressed (44%), bathing (35%), and getting to and from the toilet (33%). Only 52% of other caregivers provide help with one or more activities of daily living.
• 53% of Alzheimer’s caregivers are the primary caregiver, either the sole provider of unpaid care (30%) or the provider of most of the unpaid care (23%).

Time Spent Caregiving

• 23% of Alzheimer’s caregivers provide 40 hours or more of caregiving, compared with only 16% of other caregivers.
• 52% of Alzheimer’s caregivers provide more than 8 hours of care a week.
• Over 70% of Alzheimer’s caregivers have been providing care for over 1 year and 32% have provided care for five years or more, compared with 59% and 27% respectively among other caregivers.

Strain of Caregiving

• Two-thirds (66%) of Alzheimer’s caregivers have sacrificed one or more of the following to provide care: time for family and friends (55%), vacations, hobbies, and social activities (49%), or exercise (30%).
• 70% of Alzheimer’s caregivers report that caregiving has interfered with their job. Two-thirds (66%) of working caregivers have missed work due to caregiving responsibilities.
• Excluding those who care for a spouse, Alzheimer’s caregivers spend an average of $218 per month for the care recipient.
• On a scale of 1 to 5 with 1 representing “not at all stressful” and 5 representing “very emotionally stressful,” 41% of Alzheimer’s caregivers rate their situation as a 4 or 5. Only 31% of other caregivers rate their situation at this level.

How Caregivers Cope

• Top coping mechanisms among Alzheimer’s caregivers include praying (79%) and talking with family members and friends (70%).
• More than half of Alzheimer’s caregivers read about caregiving in books and other print materials (58%) and 41% use the Internet for information.
• One third of Alzheimer’s caregivers (33%) have gone to a professional or spiritual counselor to deal with stress, compared to just 22% of other caregivers.
• 44% of Alzheimer’s caregivers cope through exercise and 12% cope by taking medication.

Unmet Needs for Caregivers

• 36% of Alzheimer’s caregivers report needing help finding time for themselves.
• 30% report needing assistance balancing work and family responsibilities.
• 35% of Alzheimer’s caregivers need help finding easy activities to do with their care recipient.
• 34% need assistance in keeping the care recipient safe at home.
• 31% of Alzheimer’s caregivers need assistance managing challenging behaviors.
• 26% need help in making end-of-life decisions.