When it comes to the twilight years of a loved one’s life, the topic has been historically contentious when it comes to how they should be cared for. One thing that can’t be denied is that planning for one’s late life healthcare needs is important. Whether you’re planning ahead for yourself or serving as an adult guardian for a parent or elder loved one, figuring out finances can be hard without any guidance or background knowledge. For those without that background information, here are five important facts regarding patient care advocacy, being a healthcare advocate and more.
1. If You’re Struggling Financially, You’re Not Alone
In the United States alone, over 23 million elderly adults are facing financial insecurity. It’s a massive problem that doesn’t have an apparent easy solution. Medical care is often prohibitively expensive unless you have the right insurance. Healthcare is a big part of living, especially in our later years, and it’s important that we’re as prepared as possible to deal with the costs. In a better world, those costs are lowered or even waived, but for now, we have to work with what we’ve got.
2. 4 Out of Every 5 Seniors Suffers From a Chronic Condition
80% of all seniors has some type of chronic disease, and nearly 70% are dealing with multiple chronic illnesses. If that figure isn’t enough to convince you of the importance of late life healthcare, than maybe nothing will, because that staggering figure amounts to massive heaps of money funneled into the healthcare industry. It’s no coincidence that this figure and the financial figure are paired together.
3. The Amount of the Population Over the Age of 60 is Rapidly Growing
It’s estimated that by the year 2050, the amount of the population over the age of 60 will rise to 22%. This compares to only 12% now, meaning that the amount of elder care needed is going to rise sharply over the next 30 years. The advent of a new type of elder care facility is likely, but what a healthcare advocate today needs to think about is based more in the present.
4. A Healthcare Advocate is at an Increased Risk of Depression
Specifically, at-home caregivers have shown higher rates of depression compared to the rest of the population. This is likely due to the exposure of a lot of tense and often hard to deal with situations when it comes to the specific aspects of being a healthcare advocate. Taking guardianship over another comes with a lot of baggage, and it’s important to acknowledge and accept that when going through it.
5. Close to 30% of American Adults Take 5 or More Medications
This large and surprising statistic points even further to the prominence of healthcare in the daily life of Americans. Whether or not many of those medications are actually necessary is another conversation entirely, but it can’t be denied that the pharmaceutical industry has a vice grip on American society.
Do you have any other surprising or insightful facts to add? Did you find out anything new or interesting from this? Share your thoughts in the comments below, and thanks for your readership!
