Both the number of Alzheimer’s disease patients, and the cost of caring for them, are on the rise and set to increase sharply. That’s according to a new report about Colorado from the Alzheimer’s Association.
The report finds nearly 240,000 caregivers in Colorado provided 272 million hours of unpaid care in 2015. That care is valued at more than $3 billion.
The financial help needed to care for a person with Alzheimer’s disease may cause caregivers themselves to forgo necessities, like food, transportation or medical care, said the report.
The group says it expects the number of Alzheimer’s diagnoses in Colorado to jump by more than 37 percent in the next decade.
The Alzheimer’s Association urges families consider long-term medical care options as they do retirement planning.
