Family member availability predicts likelihood of unpaid care for people living with dementia

As dementia worsens, people may gradually lose the ability to prepare meals, bathe, get dressed, and otherwise care for themselves. The likelihood that people living with dementia rely on unpaid care rather than paid care depends on whether a spouse or adult children are available to be primary caregivers, according to an NIA-supported study at the University of Michigan. Conversely, people without family members available to care for them are more likely to require paid help from a long-term care facility. As reported recently in Health Affairs, national estimates suggest that available family members and other unpaid caregivers are an important consideration for how people with dementia can remain outside of a nursing home environment when they need help with everyday activities.