Caring for 50+ Hours a Week Accelerates Cognitive Decline, Study Finds

Stresses and strains from caring for someone for 50 hours or more a week can lead to “accelerated cognitive decline” in middle-aged and older people, according to research.

Conversely, providing care for only five to nine hours a week has the opposite effect, significantly boosting brain health with benefits that can last into older age.

Carers UK described the findings as “extremely worrying,” emphasizing how long hours spent providing care increase the risk of social isolation and burnout.

Dr Baowen Xue, an academic at University College London and the lead author of the paper, stated: “Our study shows that the caring responsibilities many people take on in later life can be a double-edged sword.

“On the one hand, lighter caring responsibilities can be good for you by providing mental stimulation from interacting with loved ones or others you’re helping and a sense of purpose and usefulness.

“But being overloaded with caring tasks has exactly the opposite effect and can accelerate people’s mental decline in terms of not being as mentally sharp or quick-thinking as they used to be.”

Researchers analyzed the cognitive health of 2,765 carers aged 50 or over, comparing them with 2,765 non-carers of the same age from the English Longitudinal Study on Ageing. The focus was on executive function—such as decision-making and juggling competing tasks—and memory. The average participant age was 60, with women making up 56% of the group.

The paper, published in the journal Age and Ageing, noted: “Taking on manageable levels of caregiving may provide cognitively stimulating activities and coordinating care that helps maintain executive function in later life.

“Providing a few hours of support outside the household may help caregivers maintain their cognitive health as they age.”

However, the researchers wrote, “carers providing 50+ hours of care a week exhibited accelerated cognitive decline, indicating that the cognitive stimulation associated with caring is overshadowed by the demands of high-intensity care”.

People who care for such long hours are typically full-time carers, often leaving them with little opportunity to work or maintain a social life. “The intensity of such care may lead to feelings of loneliness and disrupt sleep, further compounding its negative effects on cognition,” the paper added.

The UK’s 2021 census revealed that 5.8 million people provide unpaid care, with 1.7 million dedicating at least 50 hours a week to it.

Research from Carers UK last year indicated that just over half of all carers have increased the amount of time they provide care.

“Caring has a profound impact on carers’ health and wellbeing,” Carers UK stated. Their research found that 74% of carers feel stressed or anxious, 40% feel depressed, and 35% report their mental health as bad or very bad.

Helen Walker, the Carers UK chief executive, commented: “These findings are extremely worrying, showing that many hours of caring could contribute to cognitive decline.” She urged the government, local councils, and the NHS to increase support for family carers.

According to Joseph Rowntree Foundation research for the IPPR thinktank last year, the proportion of adults providing care for more than 35 hours a week increased by 71% between 2003-04 and 2023-24.

The UCL researchers also found that caring for someone within the carer’s household resulted in a quicker decline in cognitive function compared to caring for someone outside the household.

The paper’s authors called on the government to provide more assistance to “intensive” carers—those with high caring workloads—through improved access to funded formal and replacement care.

“By 2040, around 20% of adults in England will be living with major illnesses. With the NHS struggling to cope and social care in crisis, much of this growing demand for care will fall on family members and friends who step in as unpaid carers.

“Our findings show that this shift has profound implications: carers’ wellbeing is often overlooked and there is a real danger that many people overburdened with caring responsibilities will suffer the consequences.”

Caroline Abrahams, the charity director at Age UK, said: “Anyone who cares intensively is likely to struggle to fit in the time for enough rest, sleep and time away doing things they enjoy. These are essential human needs which, when met, set you up for good mental and physical health.

“In most cases people care because they want to and because they are deeply committed to someone they love. Caring in and of itself is not the problem here. But we need to do a lot more to support people in this position so they can continue to stay fit and well, and so they have the time and space to enjoy living their own lives, while helping someone else to live theirs.”