Alzheimer’s Disease International and Bupa recently released the World Alzheimer’s Report 2013.  With respect to dementia, the report analyzes long-term care needs, trends, and resources. The report found that the world’s population is more dependent on a caregiver beyond the level of care habitually required by a healthy adult, rising to 5 percent among adults aged 15-44 years, 7 percent among those aged 45-59 years, and 13 percent among those aged 60 years and over.  Between 2010 and 2050, the total number of dependent people worldwide is expected to double from 349 million to 613 million, but in older people, dependency is expected to triple from 101 to 277 million.  These statistics speak to general dependency.

The report notes that dementia and cognitive impairment are by far the most important contributors, among chronic diseases, to disability, dependence, and, in high income countries, transition into residential and nursing home care.  Of adults with dementia, approximately half need personal care.  In nursing homes, 80 percent of residents that are older adults have dementia.

Given the impact of dementia, the report encourages policymakers to address dementia as the root cause of growing dependency.  The current and future costs of long-term care will be driven to a large extent by the course of the global dementia epidemic.  Compared with other long-term care users, dementia patients have unique needs, requiring more personal care, more hours of care, and more supervision, all of which is associated with greater caregiver strain, and higher costs of care.  Currently, the worldwide cost of dementia exceeds $600 billion.

According to WebMD, the current, informal system of caregivers from family, friends, and the community will face greater pressure.  More attention needs to be paid to helping dementia patients and their families live and cope with dementia.  The report also encouraged increasing research funding in order to reduce the impact of dementia.

A previous National Monitor article states that caregivers are traditionally expected to be women, but nearly 40 percent of caregivers today are men.  This is approximately twice the proportion of male caregivers there were 15 years ago, when it was just 19 percent.  A study in the Journal of Advanced Nursing examined the difference between male and female caregivers.  Researchers found that females suffered from more strain in the role.  While male caregivers showed some negative impacts, such as a less positive outlook and lack of social support, female caregivers suffered significantly higher detrimental impacts, including health problems, familial conflicts, strained relationships, and a less positive outlook as well.