Aging, Disability, and Caregiving

Rapid population aging is a global phenomenon that is also accompanied by increased disability rates. These increased disability rates pose social and economic costs to individuals, families, and healthcare systems. This feature will provide an overview of the current research and knowledge regarding aging, disability, and caregiving and focus primarily on cognitive and physical disability. We begin with a brief overview of aging, cognitive and physical disability, and caregiving rates. We then review the literature on aging, disability, and caregiving, focused specifically on global research on caregiving for cognitive disability. While research has primarily focused on ameliorating the negative effects of caregiving, little attention has been paid to reinforcing systems of care that are collaborative, disability rights centered, systemic, and culturally effective. By acknowledging and building on the strengths of existing successful systems, researchers may be able to extrapolate Alzheimer’s and dementia-related caregiving resources onto caregiving for other degenerative conditions, even those involving younger individuals and their caregivers.