Caregiving can be lonely business. The CDC finds 25% of all US adults only sometimes or never, receive the social and emotional support they need. The issue can be worse for caregivers. A study looking at caregiving of elders in the Journal of Gerontology found 12% of caregivers were socially isolated, and 27% were lonely.
Mark Applegate is a dementia care specialist for senior age in Springfield. He said the early days for caregivers and patients are a blur. People often have a lot to learn and need to learn fast.
“What most people will do, they’ll get their diagnosis, they’ll go home, and they’ll Google it or ChatGPT it or something and find out what it says,” Applegate said. “Finding accurate information should be pretty easy, but you have to wade amongst all the inaccurate information, too.”…