Back to Site
Home

Home Instead Senior Care
Omaha, Elkhorn

Call us today at 800-352-1678
HomeInstead.com > zzFranSite - 100 - Omaha, Elkhorn > Home Care Services > Facts on Omaha's Seniors

Facts on Omaha's Seniors

Text Size:
Smaller Text
Larger Text
Email page

Omaha's Senior Population Statistics

Multiple surveys show that Nebraskans want to age in place and remain in their homes and communities. However, a lack of medical, preventative health, and transportation services, especially in rural areas, makes this difficult.

Currently, there are 232,195 seniors in Nebraska, which is 13% of the state's entire population(1). That percentage is expected to rise to 21% by 2030(2), a direct result of the baby boomers being absorbed into the senior population.

The state of Nebraska has the eleventh largest senior population, with 21% of households in Omaha having individuals who are age 65 or older(3).

Of those people age 60 and older in Nebraska, 41% live in rural areas, while the national average is 25 percent(4). Home Instead Senior Care Omaha offers extensive in-home, non-medical care in the Omaha and Elkhorn areas to ease the burden of loved ones and enable our state's seniors to lead happy, healthy, and fulfilling lives in their homes.

Sources
1. Omaha City, Nebraska Statistics and Demographics, U.S. Census, 2000.
2. U.S. Census Bureau population projections, 2005.
3. U.S. Census Bureau population projections, 2005.
4. The Eastern Nebraska Office on Aging, 2007.

 

Elder Care Demographics

WHO NEEDS HOME CARE?

  1. An estimated 36.8 million people - 12.4% of the population - are 65 and older.
  2. The U.S. population age 65 and older is expected to double in size within the next 25 years.
  3. By 2030, almost 1 in 5 Americans - some 72 million people - will be 65 or older.
  4. The 85+ population is projected to double from 4.7 million in 2003 to 9.6 million in 2030 - and double again to 20.9 million in 2050.
  5. In 1960, only 1.6% of older men and 1.5% of women age 65 and older were divorced. By 2003, 7% of older men and 8.6% of older women were divorced and had not remarried.
  6. About 80% of seniors have at least one chronic health condition and 50% have at least two.

Source(s):
1.  Obtained directly from U.S. Census Bureau (2006)
2-4.  U.S. Census Bureau Web Site: www.census.gov (2006)
5-6. U.S. Census Bureau: 65+ in the United States 2005 (2005)

WHO PROVIDES HOME CARE?

  1. Nearly 25% of all American adults currently provide daily companionship or assistance to a parent or relative.
  2. Approximately 60% of family caregivers are women.
  3. The typical family caregiver is a 46-year-old woman caring for her widowed mother who does not live with her. She is married and employed.
  4. An estimated 88% of married individuals report their spouse as their key caregiver.

Source(s)
1. Harris Interactive Study for Home Instead Senior Care (2003)
2-3. National Alliance for Caregiving and AARP: Caregiving in the U.S. (2004)
4.  U.S. Census Bureau: 65+ in the United States (2005)

 

WHO NEEDS HELP?

  1. Approximately 37% of family caregivers spend more than 40 hours a week providing care, and 30% spend 20 to 39 hours per week doing so.
  2. Nearly seven in 10 (69%) family caregivers spend less time with family and friends since becoming caregivers.
  3. Nine in 10 family caregivers (91%) surveyed - all in fair/poor health - suffer from depression, and eight in 10 (81%) of those with depression report that caregiving had made their depression worse.
  4. Approximately 62% of family caregivers who work have had to make some adjustments to their work life, from reporting late to work to giving up work entirely.
  5. Nearly one in five caregivers (17%) says they provide more than 40 hours of care per week to a loved one.
  6. A wife's hospitalization increased her husband's chances of dying within a month by 35%. A husband's hospitalization boosted his wife's mortality risk by 44%.
  7. Extreme stress can take as much as 10 years off a family caregiver's life.
  8. Family caregivers report having a chronic condition at more than twice the rate of non-caregivers.

Sources:
1-3. Evercare, Evercare Study of Caregivers in Decline: A Close-up Look at the Health Risks of Caring for a Loved One, 2006.
4-5, 8. National Alliance for Caregiving and AARP: Caregiving in the U.S. 2004.
6. New England Journal of Medicine, 2006.
7. Peter S. Arno: Economic Value of Informal Caregiving, 2006.