Thursday, December 4, 2008

More Men Now Caregivers for Elderly Parents

According to a recent survey by the Alzheimer's Association, more men are caring for their elderly parents. Formerly a "women's job", men are stepping up to the plate, possibly due to the increased number of women in the workplace and families becoming smaller.

In 1996, the number of male caregivers was 19 percent. Now that number has increased to 40 percent of men who are now family caregivers. It is estimated 17 million men are now caring for adults in the United States.

Unfortunately, the male caregivers have more problems with isolation than do their female counterparts. It is believed women are more likely to open up to others about their concerns, socialize more than men, and generally get out of the home more often to attend support groups or church activities allowing them opportunity to interact with other adults.

Men have fewer outside contacts and tend to feel more isolated. For men, care giving is more stressful because they do not feel they can open up and talk about what is going on the way women are able.

On the caregiver forums, I have seen a few men join in the conversations, but the majority are women. Hopefully, if men aren't able to communicate with someone in their physical area, they will get online and open up to others in a safe online environment such as a caregiver forum.

Do you know a male family caregiver? Would you point him in the direction of the AARP online community, or the National Family Caregivers Association (NFCA) caregiver message boards? Just have them click on the links and they can easily and anonymously share their feelings and frustrations online.

3 comments:

Mike Shimniok said...

Thanks, this was a most helpful article. My parents are aged and in poor health and I have been trying to get on top of it for awhile but have felt totally lost, so these resources/links were very useful. It seems awfully hard to find info on this topic, so your blog is of great value to me. -Michael

Edie Dykeman said...

Michael,

Thanks for stopping by and I am glad the links helped. When I first moved in with Dad over two years ago, I had no idea where to go for help. I've had met some wonderful people online and the resources are out there, but not always easy to find when we are busy or wearing out. Take care!

Edie

Unknown said...

Glad to see men are pitching it to help out with elderly parents.

Another option are affordable long term care facilities in Mexico.

Happily Retired in Mexico,

Joel Smith
http://www.casapreciosaajijic.com/Assisted-Living.html