Caregiver Support and Interaction

Lisa N. Richey, Matthew E. Peters, M.D., Andrea Nelson
Caregiver Support and Interaction is a topic covered in the Johns Hopkins Psychiatry Guide.

To view the entire topic, please or .

Official website of the Johns Hopkins Antibiotic (ABX), HIV, Diabetes, and Psychiatry Guides, powered by Unbound Medicine. Johns Hopkins Guide App for iOS, iPhone, iPad, and Android included. Explore these free sample topics:

-- The first section of this topic is shown below --

DEFINITION

  • A caregiver is someone who provides support to an individual with cognitive, psychiatric, and/or physical limitations with the goal of helping them to maintain health and cope with the demands of daily life.
    • This guide focuses specifically on unpaid lay-person caregivers who lack formal training.
  • The act of providing care can have a multidimensional impact on the caregiver, including physical, emotional, social, and financial consequences.
    • Addressing heavy caregiver burden is important, as it has negative implications for community-dwelling patient outcomes including increased rates of mortality and hospitalization.[1]
  • Of the 40 million Americans that provide care to an adult,[2] it is estimated that 8.4 million care for an individual with mental health issues.[3]
  • Specific to Alzheimer’s and related dementias, it is estimated that caregivers of this population provide an estimated 18.4 billion hours of unpaid care per year, comprising an “invisible healthcare system” with an annual worth of approximately $232.1 billion.[4]
  • The need for lay-person caregivers has increased as the Western world has seen a shift from long-term institutionalization to community-based care of individuals with severe mental illness and neurodegenerative conditions.

-- To view the remaining sections of this topic, please or --

DEFINITION

  • A caregiver is someone who provides support to an individual with cognitive, psychiatric, and/or physical limitations with the goal of helping them to maintain health and cope with the demands of daily life.
    • This guide focuses specifically on unpaid lay-person caregivers who lack formal training.
  • The act of providing care can have a multidimensional impact on the caregiver, including physical, emotional, social, and financial consequences.
    • Addressing heavy caregiver burden is important, as it has negative implications for community-dwelling patient outcomes including increased rates of mortality and hospitalization.[1]
  • Of the 40 million Americans that provide care to an adult,[2] it is estimated that 8.4 million care for an individual with mental health issues.[3]
  • Specific to Alzheimer’s and related dementias, it is estimated that caregivers of this population provide an estimated 18.4 billion hours of unpaid care per year, comprising an “invisible healthcare system” with an annual worth of approximately $232.1 billion.[4]
  • The need for lay-person caregivers has increased as the Western world has seen a shift from long-term institutionalization to community-based care of individuals with severe mental illness and neurodegenerative conditions.

There's more to see -- the rest of this entry is available only to subscribers.

Last updated: December 6, 2020