In this panel excerpt, moderator [Speaker A] asks Lily Sarafan, CEO of Home Care Assistance, about current caregiving challenges. Lily emphasizes a hopeful shift in the national conversation on neurocognitive health, moving from a focus on genetics to epigenetics and lifestyle‑driven gene expression, which directly impacts caregiving. She cites striking statistics: 15 million U.S. adults care for someone with Alzheimer’s and 1 in 4 American adults care for an aging loved one. The discussion then turns to practical concerns—how younger adults can locate qualified caregivers, afford care, and keep loved ones at home—prompting Lily to share actionable advice and point to resources such as caregiver recharge grants and Home Care Assistance services.
The role of caregiver is probably one of the most stressful roles in the country. What are you seeing, Lily, out on the front lines today that you didn't see a year or 2, 3 years ago?
Well, first I want to start by saying that I think that as the fellow panelists have shared, the story of neurocognitive health right now is a story of hope. The thing that I'm most excited about is the shift in our national conversation from genetics to epigenetics. What are we doing through our lifestyle factors and wellness to impact our gene expression, and that relates a lot to caregiving. Like Maria mentioned, 15 million individuals in the United States are caring for a loved one with Alzheimer's. 1 in 4 American adults is caring for an aging loved one in general.
So what do people do? 'Cause people come up to me all the time, people in their 20s, their 30s, their 40s, who are trying to find a caregiver, trying to know how to find an educated caregiver. How do they afford a caregiver? How, how long can they keep a loved one in their home? What is the advice you wanna give to people about caregiving?
So Home Care Assistance, we're the leading provider of in-home care across the country for seniors. And what we really share is we want to be a partner to the family caregivers who are doing this work. We're providing a lot of educational resources, but if you need additional help, I'm here to tell you that those resources are out there. You know, our organization as well as others helps you by providing professional care for your loved one, because often it's very stressful to go through that role reversal and go from being the adult daughter to being the full-time caregiver. And so I would say to take advantage of those resources that are out there. And like Maria mentioned, we've made available caregiver recharge grants. So if you go to homecareassistance.com/womensalzheimersmovement, you can apply for yourself or for a family member or friend for a couple of days off from caregiving to attend to your own health and wellness, to do meditation, to attend a nutritional conference, to meet with your own doctor, to go to, you know, some sort of retreat. And I think that that's really critical for the health and wellness of our country. We're adding a lot of years of lifespan, but it's just as important that we focus on the healthspan of the generation that's providing care.
