NOVEMBER is National Family Caregiver & Alzheimer’s Awareness Month!
Each November, join us in celebrating both National Family Caregiver Month and Alzheimer’s Awareness Month. All month long, we honor family caregivers. These unpaid caregivers are some of the most incredible people in world. They sacrifice so much to ensure their loved ones receive the best care and work tirelessly around the clock while often receiving little praise or acknowledgement.
Upon their journey, they face many challenges. According to the Family Caregiver Alliance, the majority of unpaid family caregivers are women, performing over 20 hours of caregiving per week (many in high burden situations), and many will pass before their loved one. According to the 2023 Alzheimer’s Disease Facts and Figures report, there were 154,000 caregivers 65 and older performing 268 million hours of unpaid care with 72.8% reporting chronic health conditions and 38% depression in 2022 just in Arkansas!
We want to help. Alzheimer’s Arkansas is working hard to provide the tools and resources caregivers need to be successful in their journey and to know they are not alone.
Read below to learn more about what unpaid family caregivers do .
Join a support group
Support groups are a great way to meet new people and learn from each other. Support groups provide an outlet for caregivers to grieve, celebrate success, and gather new resources.
Take care of yourself
You can’t provide the best care if you aren’t taking care of yourself. Your health is just as important. Take the time you need to go to the doctor, take a mental health day, do something you enjoy doing, or apply for one of our respite care grants.
Keep realistic expectations
Not everyday is going to be perfect. Set realistic expectations and manageable goals. Check out our caregiver cards to help know what to expect.
Check out these great caregiver resources
How you can care for caregivers
We know caregivers have a wide range of needs and our goal is to give them the right tools and resources. A monthly donation is the best way to ensure we can continue to provide quality services for unpaid family caregivers. Your gift helps provide grants, education, respite activities, and other forms of support. With you as a partner, we can continue enriching lives and providing resources to families across Arkansas.