MIAMI – A new survey shines a light on the struggle facing an estimated 40 million Americans who must care for a loved one in need.
According to a recent survey by Carewell.com, more than 90% of respondents are trying to hold a job while providing caregiving services with no financial assistance.
Eighty-one percent took a leave of absence from work to become a caregiver and more than 52% spent 40 or more hours per week providing care.
“We, for the first time, are seeing a huge demographic shift so we have more people by 2035 who are going to be over the age of 65 than there will be under the age of 18 so that’s a huge shift and on top of that the majority of Americans want to age in place and that means the sort of support they would have received in some sort of institutional facility or senior facility, that now is going to fall on these family caregivers and it’s the first time there’s going to be so much pressure on so few people who are around to provide that care,” said Bianca Padilla, Co-Founder and CEO of Carewell.com
The company is partnering with the Alzheimer’s foundation to raise a minimum of $50,000 through customer and company donations to fund support for caregivers and research efforts.
Fewer heart attacks
Reduced air pollution in the United States during the COVID-19 shutdown has been linked with fewer heart attacks compared to the year before the pandemic.
The reduction translated to 374 fewer heart attacks per 10,000 people between December 2019 and April 2020.
According to a global study, air pollution is widely recognized as a significant contributor to cardiovascular disease and death.
Researchers said other studies have made similar links such as a rapid drop in heart attacks after smoking bans reduced secondhand smoke exposure.