45% of Family Caregivers Fail to Take Medications as Prescribed

A survey of informal family caregivers found that 45% fail to adhere to their personal prescription regimens. More than half (52%) said they were more likely to sacrifice their own health to ensure that they properly cared for family members, and 46% said caring for family was more important than caring for themselves. Compared to non-caregivers, caregivers were 10% more likely to forget to take their medications, 11% more likely to stop taking their medications if they felt well, and 13% more likely to forget to refill an ongoing maintenance prescription. The survey findings were released in “Are caregivers . . .