Caregivers care for adults and children who need assistance with their medical care or activities of daily living. The Family Caregiver Alliance estimates that in the United States 43.5 million people have provided caregiving to adults and/or children in the last year. Caregivers play such an important role in the lives of families across the United States. Often time, caregivers are family members or close friends. Caregivers can be unpaid or paid depending on the situation. Caregivers play a significant role in both the medical care and overall well-being of the person being cared for.
Why caregivers are important:
Caregivers can do a lot of different things depending on the need of the person they are caring for. Often, caregivers live with the person they are looking after and are on call all day and night. They can be responsible for managing one’s medical care and communicating with medical professionals for the person. Caregivers can 
offer environmental support such as cleaning, cooking, yard-work and more. They also can provide assistance with activities of daily living such as eating, getting dressed, bathing, using the toilet and more. One of the most significant roles a caregiver can offer is providing emotional support and overall company to the person in need. Caregiving can be a stressful job because of the constant demand of the job and often times many caregivers do not get a break. If you provide caregiving or know someone who does, there is a lot of support and resources available. There are also resources to learn new caregiving skills and expand the services you provide. Check out these many resources for caregivers here:
- https://medlineplus.gov/caregivers.html#cat_51
- https://www.hhs.gov/programs/providers-and-facilities/resources-for-caregivers/index.html
- https://familydoctor.org/caregiver-health-and-wellness/?adfree=true
Sources:
Statistics:https://www.caregiver.org/pilotIntegration/indexPersistent.html?uri=%2Fcaregiver-statistics-demographics and https://medlineplus.gov/caregivers.html#cat_51
