Copyright 2006 Dr. Eileen Silva
Do you, like many other Baby Boomers, now find yourself caring for aging parents or other older relatives or friends who have health problems, disabilities, or the need for assistance with daily tasks such as bathing, dressing, and eating? If so, you are part of one fourth of American families who are caring for an older family member, an adult child with disabilities, or a friend. According to the AARP, you are one of more than 22.4 million Americans who are now caregivers to older adults, a number that has tripled in the last 10 years alone. The average amount of time these Americans spend on caregiving is about 20 hours per week with many of these hours spent in physically demanding work. With the life spans raising over the past century from 49 -77, some children are actually caring for invalid parents 20 years, longer than the parents spent raising them.
I would like to ask you a question? How is your own personal health? One third of caregivers describe their personal health as fair to poor, and many worry that they wo
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