Читать книгу Financial Care for Your Aging Parent - Lise Andreana - Страница 5

There are different stages of being a senior; people can be distinguished between the Youthful, Middle Age, and Elderly of the senior years.

Youthful seniors are represented by those who are healthy and active — typically between the ages of 65 and 75 (or older, if still in good health). These are the years of high activity, sometimes including continued work, travel, and even extreme sports. These are frequently also the caregivers of their chronically ill parents.

Seniors in their Middle Years, older than age 75, are still active but to a lesser degree. They may be suffering from a chronic illness, which limits their activities to a certain extent. They still have the ability to live independent lives, and most choose to remain living in their own homes. Indeed, they are encouraged to do so by society and by our government agencies, until the onset of a serious critical illness, or if and when they are no longer able to perform what are known as The Activities of Daily Life^[2].

The Activities of Daily Life consist of the following:

• Eating and feeding ourselves

• Dressing ourselves

• Bathing ourselves and maintaining basic hygiene and toilet activities without help

• Transferring in and out of bed, bath, or chair without help

• Maintaining our home and surroundings for basic cleanliness and safety

Once a chronic illness interferes with an older senior’s ability to carry on independently, we refer to them as Elderly. This has more to do with ability than actual age. For example, there are many highly active and engaged individuals older than 80 who would rarely be referred to as “elderly”; for example, Warren Buffett, Queen Elizabeth, Sir Michael Caine, Betty White, and Maya Angelou.

As mentioned in the introduction, the North American population is aging at a remarkable rate thanks in part to the number of births in the Baby Boom generation, continued advances in medicine, and healthy lifestyles. By the year 2041 we will see one in every four persons qualify as a senior. With the fastest growing segment of the senior population being those older than 85, it is more likely than ever before that Youthful seniors will be taking care of their parents in the Elderly senior category.

In the USA, the Administration on Aging (www.aoa.gov) gives the following statistics:

• Of the US population, 1 in 8 is 65 years or older.

• Population of those older than the age 65 numbered 40.4 million people in 2010.

• Expected population of 65-year-olds by 2020 is 55 million, and by 2030, it is expected the number will grow to 72.1 million.

• It is estimated that between 20 to 40 percent of US adults are now caring for a sick or an elderly family member. Since most caregivers are family, accurate data is difficult to come by.

• The US economy is cited as a cause for more sick and elderly being cared for at home by informal caregivers (mostly family members).

The Certified Professional Consultant on Aging (CPCA) cites the following Canadian statistics in their course material “Becoming a CPCA”:

• 1 in 5 Canadians age 45 and older are providing care to a senior.

• 6 percent of Canadians older than age 75 report being caregivers.

• Adults have more parents than children for the first time in history

A recent Statistics Canada report identifies 8 million Canadians as caregivers in 2012^[3], and the number one reason cited for requiring caregiving in this report was aging (28 percent). Adding Alzheimer’s and dementia to that number (an additional 6 percent) shows that almost 3 million people are already caring for our aging population. It’s time to get prepared.