ALZHEIMER ALZHEIMER’S ASSOCIATION: IOWA CHAPTER New Alzheimer’s Association Report Reveals Top Stressors for Caregivers and Lack of Care Navigation Support and Resources By Alzheimer’s Association The Alzheimer’s Association 2024 Alzheimer’s Disease Facts and Figures report reveals that both dementia caregivers and health care workers report difficulties in navigating dementia care within the U.S. health care system. The new report estimates that nearly 7 million people age 65 and older in the U.S. are living with Alzheimer’s dementia and over 11 million loved ones are providing care. In Iowa, over 62,000 people are living with the disease, and there are nearly 100,000 caregivers. This year the cost of caring for people living with Alzheimer’s and other dementias is projected to reach $360 billion — a $15 billion increase from a year ago. This does not include unpaid care provided by family caregivers and friends. Last year in Iowa family caregivers provided 125 million hours of unpaid care valued at $2.284 billion. Part of the report looks provides a comprehensive look into dementia care navigation by surveying dementia caregivers and health care workers on their experiences, challenges, awareness and perceptions of care navigation in dementia care. Dementia care navigation provides clinical and nonclinical support to people living with dementia and their caregivers. A dementia care navigation program can include support to address barriers related to medical, legal, financial and emotional stress and questions, helping finding and accessing medical care and local resources and more. The report reveals that, unsurprisingly, a majority of caregivers (70%) find that coordination of care is stressful, and more than half of the caregivers surveyed said that navigating health care was difficult. Two thirds also have difficulty finding resources and support for their needs. Dementia caregivers said that the top five areas that cause the most stress are the cost of care and how to pay for it, coordinating with multiple doctors and securing appointments, finding help to take a break for themselves and finding the right doctors. In Iowa, finding specialists like geriatricians and neurologists is especially difficult because there is a severe lack of doctors for the amount of people living with the disease, particularly in rural areas of the state. Despite coordinating care and scheduling being top stressors for caregivers, only half of the caregivers surveyed have ever talked with a health care professional about challenges finding their way through the health care system or asked for help with dementia care. Black and Hispanic caregivers report managing care more on a daily basis compared to White caregivers. The vast majority of dementia caregivers say that they would find navigation services helpful, like a 24/7 Helpline and help coordinating care, communicating between different specialists and getting help understanding their loved one’s condition. When it comes to healthcare workers, 60% surveyed believe that the U.S. healthcare
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