• Adult children provide 70-80% of all services to non-institutionalized aging parents for an average of 35.4 hours/week. ⁱ
• The following was reported in a 2009 study of family caregivers in the United States conducted by AARP and the National Alliance for Caregiving ⁱⁱ:
  • In the past 12 months, an estimated 65.7 million people in the U.S. have served as unpaid family caregivers to an adult or a child.
  • 17% reported that their health has gotten worse as a result of caregiving.
  • The longer a caregiver has been providing care, the more likely she or he is to report fair or poor health. Specifically, 23% of those who have been providing care for five years or more report their health is fair or poor.
  • Half of the caregivers (53%) say that their caregiving takes time away from friends and other family members.
  • Those who have sacrificed this time with family and friends are far more likely to feel high emotional stress (47%) than are those who have been able to maintain the time they spend with family and friends (14%).
  • More than one-third (37%) have children or grandchildren under the age of 18 in the household.

MEDICAL MISHAPS

Communication between Doctor and Patient

• Studies have shown that:
  • Only 15% of patients fully understand what their doctors tell them and 50% leave their doctor's offices uncertain of what they need to do to take care of themselves.
  • Doctors listen to a patient's concerns for an average of just 22 seconds before interrupting. ^iv
• During doctor's appointments:
  • 65% of the time doctors neglected to mention side effects of new medications,
  • 66% of the time doctors didn't tell patients how long to take the drug and
  • 42% of the time doctors didn't give details on how often to take the medicine. ⁱⁱⁱ
• Good communication between doctors and patients leads to lower blood sugar levels in diabetic patients, lower blood pressure for patients with hypertension and reduced pain for patients. ^iv
• When patients have support communicating with doctors:
  • 50% are more likely to be satisfied with their doctor's ability to give information and
  • 30% are more likely to be satisfied with their physician's interpersonal skills. ^v

Medications

• Seniors represent just over 13% of the population, but consume 40% of prescription drugs and 35% of all over the counter drugs.
• On average, individuals 65 to 69 years old take nearly 14 prescriptions per year and individuals aged 80 to 84 take an average of 18 prescriptions per year.
• Studies of patient behavior show that LESS THAN 50% of the people who leave a doctor's office with a prescription take the drug as directed. ^vi
• 4 out of 10 adults delayed care or failed to follow prescriptions to save money. ^vii
• The Massachusetts State Pharmacy Board estimated that 2.4 million prescriptions are filled improperly each year in this state alone. ^vi
• More than 200,000 people die each year from medication-related problems. Adverse drug reactions alone are between the fourth and sixth leading cause of death. ^viii
• Adverse drug reactions and noncompliance are responsible for 28% of hospitalizations of the elderly.
• Each year 32,000 seniors suffer hip fractures caused by medication-related problems. ^vi

Hospitalizations and Discharges

• One in five Medicare patients that are discharged will be re-hospitalized within 30 days - usually within 7-8 days following discharge. One half of the patients had not seen the doctor for follow up.
• Unplanned hospital readmissions account for $17.4 billion of the $102.6 billion that Medicare paid hospitals in 2004.
• 41% of patients are discharged with test results still pending. Ten percent of these results might change the management of patient care.
• 61% of physicians are unaware of test results returning after discharge that may change management. ^vii

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ELDER FINANCIAL ABUSE

• One in 25 cases of all elder abuse is financial abuse.
• Nationally, 2.5 million to five million incidents of abuse occur annually.
• Nationally, five to 10 incidents of abuse occurs every minute.
• Nearly one half of reported cases of financial abuse and/or exploitation involves victims age 80 and up.
• The annual financial loss for elderly victims is over $2.6 billion. If medical care and other services are added, the cost rises to $13 billion.
  
• Elder abuse threatens the health, dignity and economic security of millions of Americans.
• Losing one's life savings and/or housing can be devastating and life-threatening. ^ix