WASHINGTON — Far more people than previously believed are providing billions of hours of unpaid care for Alzheimer’s patients.
Nearly 15 million caregivers — most of them family members but also friends — provide care for people with dementia, says a report being released today by the Alzhei mer’s Association.
An estimated 5.4 million Americans have the mind-destroying disease.
Their caregivers provide 17 billion hours of unpaid care, valued at more than $202 billion. Previously, experts had used a count about a decade ago to estimate that about 10 million caregivers provided 8.5 billion hours of unpaid care for Alzheimer’s patients.
The time and stress of caring for an Alzheimer’s patient takes a physical toll, translating into nearly $8 billion worth of extra health care costs for caregivers, the report says.
