North Carolina is growing older, and with that comes a need for more caregivers.
Data from NCDHHS shows the state is projected to have more than 16,800 people living over the age of 100 by 2050, a 273% increase from 2024.
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Duke Health’s annual caregiver event in Durham works to connect those providing the care with valuable resources and support.
“It’s really important when you become a family caregiver – and I’ve been one three times – it is a very intimate role that you’re in, but it’s also incredibly isolating,” said Nicole Clagett, Duke Health director of community development and caregiver support.
Clagett said the need for more resources led the event to expand to two days this year. Both days are sold out.
“Trying to surround yourself with a community and people that are sharing a similar journey is really important,” Clagett said. “When you’re put into that role of a family caregiver, you’re kind of in that sprint mode where you feel like, ‘I’ve got this, I can handle this,’ but the reality is that for most people it turns into a marathon.”
Over 100 vendors provided resources from things like legal aid, connections to local senior living homes, personalized advice, and wellness events tailored to managing caregiver stress.
“Caregiving is also a huge financial burden,” Clagett added. “I think people become surprised when they discover there are so many out-of-pocket costs related to caregiving. It’s one of the reasons why we have an incontinence product bank here, and we give a lot of free products to caregivers. Our insurances don’t really cover a lot of this.”
Caregivers could also participate in a virtual dementia tour. A room equipped with blue lights and a disco ball helped disorient a person’s vision, while they were directed to complete simple tasks around the room.
“I had earphones on that was just a bunch of rumbling noises and background talk,” Jody Weaver recalled after participating. “I had special glasses on that made it very difficult to see. I could only see what was around the outside of my eye, and it was very blurry.”
Weaver was also given heavy gloves, which made it difficult to pick items up, and special soles for her shoes, which made walking more challenging.
“I just can’t imagine anybody going through that. My mother-in-law had dementia, really bad to the very end, so she went through that. It was quite eye-opening,” Weaver said.
Weaver shared she is beginning the caregiving journey for her 93-year-old mother and stated she wanted to attend the event to learn about the road ahead.
“She is still in independent living, which is great, but I’m just noticing now she has some early stages of dementia,” Weaver told WRAL News. “Her short-term memory is pretty much gone. It’s like Groundhog Day, every day.”
For 63-year-old Jay Reinstein, the event provided a different perspective: helping him understand how his diagnosis impacts his loved ones.
“As someone living with early-onset Alzheimer’s, the focus is often on us,” Reinstein said. “Caregiving is really difficult.”
Reinstein described the annual event as a “one-stop shop”, which has provided valuable resources to him and his wife as his condition has progressed.
“I’m noticing just in the last few days more difficulty processing and pulling the right words out,” Reinstein said. “I’ve gotten to meet some doctors and physical therapy folks. It’s just sort of reacclimating myself to the caregiving community and meeting more people. Every time I come back, I come back with a booklet that lists all the resources.”
Population estimates and projections from NCDHHS report that 88 counties had more people over the age of 60 than under the age of 18, as of 2024.
The same dataset showed that an estimated 1.3 million caregivers across North Carolina provide roughly $16.5 billion of unpaid hours of care.