But the responsibility for meeting the challenges of the 21st century doesn't lie only with the medical profession, Jagust said. As more and more families are under stress, I suspect there will be a public movement to help with the burden. That movement will be pushed by demographics, said Gary Small, director of the UCLA Center on Aging. Over the next 30 years, the pool of family caregivers will shrink by almost two-thirds. Smaller family size means fewer adult children to provide care.
Adult children are less likely to live near parents, and more women are working outside the home.