It has been reported that 30 to 40 percent of caregivers will die before the person that they are caring for. That is a sad story. Many of them try to do too much and they get stressed out. They get sicker than the ones that they were trying to care for. They are not aware of the resources available to them for help. Some of these people are spouses that are not physically able to provide the care around the clock that a live in caregiver can help with and they just make themselves sick trying.

According to the Alzheimer’s Association, there are 43.5 million Americans providing care for someone who is 50 years old or more and 14.9 of these are providing for someone with dementia or Alzheimer’s. That number is going to increase. Someone new is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease every 69 seconds. Unfortunately, as our average life span increases, so do our chances of contracting this disease.

It is a very difficult thing to know when it is time to ask for help. If you are the caregiver, you are not going to want to give up. You may not want to lose your parent or spouse and will do anything possible to hang on to them, thinking that you are the only one who can provide the care that person needs. You might also be lonely without them, knowing that they would have to go into a facility that could provide around the clock care. Or maybe, it is about money. You might not have the resources to hire a caregiver and may not be aware of the services available to you if you were to ask.

Having the adult children involved does not necessarily make the decision making any easier. The children are apt to argue with each other and not agree on a course of action. The Alzheimer’s Association is a good place to start if you need help or want to chart a course for the future. Start with them. If you want to read more, visit preparingtodie.com to get more ideas on how to start planning for the future.

There are some issues such as living wills, end of life care choices, power or attorney, funeral arrangements, bills to pay, safety issues, insurance, and last wills that can be talked about with the family and some plans laid down before it becomes an emergency or before someone in the family becomes incapacitated.