Caregiving and Women

by Alzheimer's Association:The responsibilities of caring for someone with dementia often fall to women. Approximately two-thirds of caregivers are women. More specifically, over one-third of dementia caregivers are daughters. It is more common for wives to provide informal care for a husband than vice versa.On average, female caregivers spend more time caregiving than male caregivers. According to the 2014 Alzheimer’s Association Women and Alzheimer’s Poll, of those providing care for 21 to more than 60 hours per week, 67 percent were women and 33 percent were men.The 2015 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) survey found that of all dementia caregivers who spend more than 40 hours per week providing care, 69 percent were women. Two and a half times as many women as men reported living with the person with dementia full time. Of those providing care to someone with dementia for more than 5 years, 63 percent are women and 37 percent are men.Similarly, caregivers who are women may experience higher levels of burden, depression and impaired health than men, with evidence suggesting that these differences arise because female caregivers tend to spend more time caregiving, to take on more caregiving tasks, and to care for someone with more cognitive, functional and/or behavior problems. Women caregivers are also more likely than men to indicate a need for individual counseling, respite care and support groupsSource: https://www.alz.org/email/alz-media-insider/downloads/2017-FF-Factsheet.pdf