Cover Story
marathon
Veronica Weber
The caregiver’s
Every day, family members cope with the challenges of caring for ailing parents and spouses by Sue Dremann
Veronica Weber
B
ea Crane, 69, had a good life in New Orleans. She ran a hammock shop near the French Quarter; jazz, bistros and friends surrounded her. Then her life drastically changed. When Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005, she survived by swimming through muddy floodwaters, which rose to the second-story stairs. Given the choice between being robbed and diving into the unknown dangers lurking in the water, “we took the water,� she said. That same year it wasn’t a natural disaster but rather a familiar human concern that turned her life upside down. She came back to Palo Alto to care for
her mother, Blanche Frith, who is now 101 years old. It is the caregiving, not the hurricane, that’s left Crane feeling as if she’s drowning. She’s not alone. Family members frequently take on the all-consuming responsibility of caregiving when loved ones age or become ill. Some care for frail parents, others for an ailing spouse. Sometimes the infirmities and attendant responsibilities arise gradually; for others, a medical emergency alters life overnight. The task is daunting, caregivers said. “Some days, it’s a blessing to get insight into my mother. But there are
Page 14ĂŠUĂŠ Ă•Â˜iĂŠÂŁx]ÊÓä£ÓÊUĂŠ*>Â?ÂœĂŠ Â?ĂŒÂœĂŠ7iiÂŽÂ?ÞÊUĂŠĂœĂœĂœÂ°*>Â?Âœ Â?ĂŒÂœ"˜Â?ˆ˜i°Vœ“
times when you think you just can’t handle another minute,� said Crane, a perky, outgoing personality. Roughly one third of all U.S. households provide care for a chronically ill, disabled or aged family member or friend, spending an average of 20 hours per week, according to a 2009 report by the National Alliance for Caregiving and AARP. In Santa Clara County, roughly 24 percent of older adults report they are caregivers. That number is expected to rise dramatically as the tidal wave of Baby Boomers age, creating a socalled “Silver Tsunami.� By 2020 Santa Clara County’s pop-
ulation of persons aged 65 and older is projected to nearly double to 428,300, according to a countywide 10-year strategic plan on the well-being of older adults. Some families are caring for not only a spouse or older parent but also children or grandchildren. The pressures are great, caregivers said, taking their toll financially and emotionally. Some seek respite through day care organizations such as Avenidas Rose Kleiner Center in Mountain View; others rely on family or friends to provide a day off. “We think there are 8,000 people in our area (Palo Alto, Mountain View
Clockwise, from top left: Bea Crane, in the foreground, checks on her 101-year-old mother, Blanche Frith, in their Palo Alto home. A full-time caregiver, Crane makes a phone call to order more prescriptions for her mother, who suffers from dementia. Crane wraps her mother’s legs with a bandage to reduce her leg swelling. Crane organizes prescriptions and vitamins for her mother and herself. She herself has high blood pressure.