Just to give you a feel for size and scope of the eldercare problem, I thought I'd share a few dramatic numbers. 

  • By 2030 the population of seniors in the United States will be 71.5 million, more than doubling in just 30 years - Department of Health and Human Services, Administration on Aging, 2006.
  • 24 billion hours were spent in caregiving in 1997. - Arno PS, Levine C, Memmott MM. The economic value of informal caregiving. Health Affairs. 1999
  • In 2006, productivity loses to U.S. business were estimated at $33.6 billion. Nearly 80% of these caregivers, were caring for someone over the age of 50 - The MetLife Caregiving Cost Study: Productivity Loses to U.S. Business. MetLife Mature Market Institute and National Alliance for Caregiving. 2006.

You can see from these statistics caring for aging parents is big and growing problem.  It also too big to expect health care providers to provide the solutions.  Caregivers themselves are going to be overwhelmed, as well.  On a personal scale many are already.

Technology can help and may be the only way to cope with the growing issues.