America’s population is graying, as they say. And the retirement home industry is booming as a result, expected to swell exponentially over the next several years. Meanwhile, nearly a fifth of Americans provide care for an adult, according to the AARP. And more than half of adults ages 50 to 80 provide care for someone 65 or older, according to the University of Michigan’s 2022 National Poll on Healthy Aging.
For many adult caregivers—especially working ones—something will eventually have to give. Psychologist Allison Applebaum, Ph.D., knows this all too well. The author of the forthcoming book Stand by Me, Applebaum cared for her aging father—legendary composer Stanley Applebaum, whose many memorable musical feats included arranging strings on the 1961 Ben E. King hit “Stand by Me.” She is also the director of the Caregivers Clinic at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City.
