Pioneering gerontologist and Penn State University professor Steven Zarit has spent decades studying the effects of caregiving on families. In today’s episode he shares the dramatic results of a study that measured stress levels in people caring for a loved one with dementia on days when the care recipient was at home versus at adult day care. Zarit also provides stress-reducing tips for caregivers, including strategies that have emerged from support group sessions, he weighs in on long-term care in the US compared with other countries and he tells us what he’d say to the presidential candidates about support to family caregivers.

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MUSIC: “Departures (Green Wall)” by Lee Rosevere | CC BY NC SA | Free Music Archive