Friends step in as caregivers for aging adults

Across the United States, people are increasingly relying on friends and neighbors for help as they age, filling gaps when family support is limited.

Nicole Straight of Sausalito, California, began providing regular assistance to her neighbor Patricia Wood, 93, after Wood broke her neck and could no longer walk without help. Straight brings meals, runs errands, and her husband made home modifications to help Wood maintain independence. This shift in eldercare reflects changing demographics.

Sociologist Deborah Carr at Boston University notes that more older adults are unmarried, divorced, or childless, leading to fewer family members available to provide care. A study by researchers at the University of Michigan found that approximately 14% of older adults with health limitations receive help from friends or neighbors, representing an estimated 2.4 million people nationally.

These friends typically provide supplemental care, offering around 18 hours of help per month, often with tasks like transportation, shopping, and accompanying their friends to appointments. While they generally don’t provide intimate personal care, their support is valuable. Researchers also found that those receiving help from friends tend to be younger, more educated, and more likely to live alone, like Ann Greenwater, 84, of Humboldt County, California, who receives assistance from members of a local Zen Buddhist center.

However, these friendships may be less stable than family relationships, and there is currently little policy support for friends who take on caregiving roles.