On Veterans Day, a salute to those who care for them

Caring for an ill or disabled person is the most loving, if not the most taxing, of vocations. And those who care for the nation’s veterans bear a particular burden, according to a new survey.

Compared with family caregivers of adults in general, those who care for veterans are twice as likely to say that their situation is highly stressful. The study, released Wednesday by the National Alliance for Caregiving and funded by the United Health Foundation, showed that 70% of caregivers of veterans are caring for a spouse or partner, and 30% of the caregivers also care for children under the age of 18. A majority of those caregivers, who are mostly women, say they are not able to spend as much time with their children as they would like to. Many report that they have had to cut back or give up their careers and that their own physical and mental health has declined since assuming caregiving responsibilities for the veteran.

One of the issues that makes caregiving for veterans so difficult is the the high rates of post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury in veterans. Disabled veterans are often young, and the average caregiver is likely to spend 10 years or more caring for the individual -- much longer than the average caregiver.

This is a labor of love, to be sure. The vast majority, 94%, said they are proud to care for a veteran.

Here’s a link to the report, “Caregivers of Veterans - Serving on the Homefront.”

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