Families caring for frail and demented elderly: A review of selected findings.

In this article, the caregivers for the physically frail family members and the caregivers for demented family members are considered separately. The two populations are described, the burdens experienced by each group are examined, and reports of intervention programs for each group are discussed. The two groups are compared and contrasted. And finally, supportive programs for each type of caregiver are recommended. The number of frail elderly suffering from chronic disorders and the number of demented elderly cared for in their homes by family members is increasing. Soldo and Myllyluoma (33) used 1976 Survey of Income and Education data to estimate that 1.1 million households in this country had at least one person over age 65 who required moderate assistance with either activities in daily living or mobility. There are two or three times as many bedfast and housebound elderly at home as there are in institutions (16). For most patients, home care is preferable to the alternative of institutionalization (17). Brody (3, 4) dispels the frequently cited myth that the contemporary family is alienated from its elderly members and does not take care of them as was done in the past. As the longevity of the population increases, and the absolute number of individuals over the age of 65 increases from 25 million now to approximately 40 million by the year 2020 (2), the number of frail and elderly cared for in their homes by family members will also increase.