This study looks at the prevalence and predicators in informal care for cognitive impairment or probable dementia in the U.S.
US Prevalence and Predictors of Informal Caregiving for Dementia
Published in: Health Affairs, v. 34, no. 10, Oct. 2015, p. 1637-1641
Posted on RAND.org on October 20, 2015
Research Questions
- How much informal care is provided to older adults with and without dementia?
- Who provides this care?
- Who receives intensive informal care?
In 2010, 5.5 million US adults ages seventy and older received informal care, including 3.6 million with cognitive impairment or probable dementia. Adults with probable dementia received 171 hours of monthly informal care, versus 89 hours for cognitively impaired adults without dementia and 66 hours for cognitively normal adults.
Key Findings
- Informal caregivers provide 83 percent of the hours of care received by all older adults. Those with probable dementia received 171 hours of informal care per month versus 89 for the cognitively impaired and 66 hours for normal adults.
- Spouses are the primary caregivers for adults with normal cognition, but daughters are more likely to provide informal care for adults with cognitive impairment or dementia.
- Married people with probable dementia are more likely to receive intensive informal care than their unmarried counterparts.
- White adults are significantly less likely to receive intensive informal care than their black and Hispanic counterparts.
This report is part of the RAND Corporation External publication series. Many RAND studies are published in peer-reviewed scholarly journals, as chapters in commercial books, or as documents published by other organizations.
The RAND Corporation is a nonprofit institution that helps improve policy and decisionmaking through research and analysis. RAND's publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions of its research clients and sponsors.