Caregiving rarely announces itself with fanfare. It arrives quietly and reshapes daily life.
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我的丈夫布魯斯·威利斯患有癡呆症。這讓我明白了一些殘酷的現實。
幾乎我們每個人都會照顧他人，或者需要他人的照顧。我們現在的應對方式將決定照顧者是獨自承擔這份責任，還是最終獲得他們應得的支持。
艾瑪·海明·威利斯和史蒂夫·施瓦布 | 專欄撰稿人
2 小時前 2026年2月18日
https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2026/02/18/bruce-willis-dementia-caregiver-emma-heming/88645190007/
照顧他人很少會轟轟烈烈地到來。它悄無聲息地改變著日常生活。
對許多家庭來說，照顧他人意味著丈夫被診斷出患有癡呆症——這種疾病有很多種類型，從阿爾茨海默病到額顳葉癡呆（FTD），我的丈夫布魯斯·威利斯就患有這種疾病。
我（艾瑪·海明·威利斯）正在照顧患有額顳葉癡呆症的配偶。史蒂夫·施瓦布十多年來一直致力於傾聽和提升全國各地軍人和退伍軍人照護者的聲音，他們中的許多人都在照顧患有阿爾茨海默病和其他類型癡呆症的親人。
我們走過不同的路，卻有著共同的感悟。
照顧癡呆症患者不僅僅是完成一係列任務。它還包括管理藥物、協調預約、應對那些並非為照護者設計的係統，以及每天適應記憶力衰退、性格變化、睡眠紊亂和難以預測的行為等無形的勞動。
除了身體上的照護，它還需要時刻保持警惕。它意味著在精疲力竭時如何堅持下去，即使感覺無比艱難，也要出於愛一次又一次地出現。
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照護的隱性成本：為親人無償付出的艱辛勞動
布魯斯·威利斯和艾瑪·海明·威利斯於2019年在紐約市出席了電影《布魯克林孤兒》的首映禮。
根據蘭德公司最新的全國代表性調查，超過1億美國成年人為有健康或功能障礙的成年親屬或朋友提供無償照護。同一項研究估計，在這1億人中，約有1430萬美國人正在照護受傷、患病或殘疾的現役軍人或退伍軍人。
各種類型的癡呆症在照護領域日益占據重要地位。近三分之二的阿爾茨海默病患者是女性，而無償照護癡呆症患者的人中也有約三分之二是女性。
僅在2019年，家人和朋友就為患有癡呆症的人提供了約186億小時的無償照護——價值約2440億美元。這是支撐家庭、醫療保健係統和經濟的重要勞動——卻大多不為人知，也得不到任何補償。照護是至關重要的基礎設施，但它卻常常被忽視。
布魯斯·威利斯生日：好萊塢偶像的職業生涯回顧
布魯斯·威利斯迎來了他的70歲生日。讓我們回顧這位《虎膽龍威》明星在好萊塢聚光燈下的四十年輝煌曆程。
對我們中的一員來說，照護意味著要麵對這樣一個現實：我們的文化在支持那些正在應對額顳葉癡呆症（FTD）的家庭方麵準備不足。FTD是一種鮮為人知的癡呆症，但卻是60歲以下人群中最常見的類型，而且往往在人生的黃金時期發病。
FTD會給患者的溝通、行為和行動帶來深刻的變化。照護中蘊含著深沉的愛，但也伴隨著悲傷、疲憊和恐懼——為失去的一切而悲傷，也為不斷變化的一切而悲傷。
了解癡呆症的5個早期征兆至關重要 | 觀點
癡呆症照護者承受著巨大的心理和生理壓力
癡呆症照護是一項全天候的責任，缺乏支持，休息機會也寥寥無幾。
通過伊麗莎白·多爾基金會，我們看到軍人和退伍軍人照護者麵臨著類似的困境——在照顧患有阿爾茨海默病、與創傷性腦損傷相關的癡呆症以及其他認知能力下降的親人的同時，還要應對經濟壓力、工作中斷以及長期慢性壓力帶來的健康影響。
2016年，艾瑪·海明和布魯斯·威利斯出席了在紐約無線電城音樂廳舉行的“托尼·貝內特90歲生日慶典：未來可期”活動……顯示更多
研究和照護者健康數據顯示，相當一部分癡呆症患者的家庭照護者承受著嚴重的心理和生理壓力：30%至40%的癡呆症患者家庭照護者出現抑鬱症狀，約59%的人表示承受著高度或極高的情緒壓力，38%的人表示承受著高度或極高的生理壓力。
照護甚至可能危及生命。《美國醫學會雜誌》發表的一項研究發現，與非照護者相比，承受著巨大壓力的照護者死亡風險顯著增加。
“我感到孤獨”是照護者最常說的話之一。
然而，盡管承受著生理、情感和經濟上的壓力，幾乎所有人都願意伸出援手。
近半數癡呆症照護者表示，這段經曆意義非凡。愛與使命感與疲憊和悲傷並存。
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然而，愛不應要求無私奉獻而缺乏支持。
14年來，伊麗莎白·多爾基金會一直致力於提升照護者的聲音，推進切實可行的政策解決方案，並促使雇主更好地支持照護員工，特別是那些照顧受傷、患病或殘疾退伍軍人的員工。
照護者理應被認可為英雄，但如果沒有切實有效的支持，僅僅獲得認可是不夠的。
沒有實際行動的認可顯得空洞無物。
他們需要行動。
他們需要靈活的工作環境，將其視為必需品而非福利。他們需要將照護者視為醫療團隊重要成員的醫療保健係統。他們需要民選官員理解，支持照護者能夠增強家庭凝聚力、穩定勞動力市場並降低長期醫療保健成本。
觀點：我的第三人生是成為一名照護者。我知道我無法獨自承擔這一切。
照護並非小眾問題。它考驗著我們作為一個國家的本質，塑造著我們的人口結構、醫療保健體係和經濟。
在人生的某個階段，幾乎每個人都會成為照護者或需要照護者。我們現在的應對方式將決定照護者是繼續孤軍奮戰，還是最終獲得他們應得的支持。
預計到2050年，全球癡呆症病例將增加近三倍。如果不做出實質性改變，數百萬個家庭將獨自承擔這份重擔。我們不能再繼續忽視照護工作。
如果我們願意正視照護者——包括那些正在應對阿爾茨海默病、額顳葉癡呆和其他認知衰退的照護者——並給予他們切實的支持，我們就能構建一個未來：沒有人需要默默地為照顧所愛之人而苦苦掙紮。
這份責任屬於我們所有人。
查看 | 25 張照片
艾瑪·海明·威利斯與布魯斯·威利斯的愛情故事及事業曆程（圖集）
艾瑪·海明·威利斯始終與丈夫布魯斯·威利斯並肩前行。通過照片了解她的生活、事業以及他們之間的愛情故事。
艾瑪·海明·威利斯是一位護理員、母親、妻子，也是《紐約時報》暢銷書作家。史蒂夫·施瓦布是伊麗莎白·多爾基金會的首席執行官。
您可以在《今日美國》觀點版頭版、X（原推特）、@usatodayopinion 以及我們的觀點新聞簡報中閱讀我們專欄作家和其他作者的各種觀點。
My husband, Bruce Willis, has dementia. It's taught me hard truths.
Nearly every one of us will provide care or need it. How we respond now will determine whether caregivers shoulder this responsibility in isolation or are finally met with the support they deserve.
Emma Heming Willis and Steve Schwab | Opinion contributors
2 hours ago Feb 18, 2026
For many families, it arrives with a diagnosis of dementia – a condition that takes many forms, from Alzheimer’s disease to frontotemporal dementia, or FTD, which my husband, Bruce Willis, lives with.
I (Emma Heming Willis) am caring for a spouse with FTD. Steve Schwab has spent more than a decade listening to and elevating the voices of military and veteran caregivers across the country, many of whom care for loved ones with Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia.
We've been on different journeys, but with shared truths.
Caregiving for someone with dementia is not simply a set of tasks. It is the invisible labor of managing medications, coordinating appointments, navigating systems not designed with caregivers in mind and adapting – daily – to memory loss, personality changes, disrupted sleep and unpredictable behavior.
It is vigilance layered on top of physical care. It is learning how to keep going when you are exhausted, showing up again and again out of love, even when it feels impossibly hard.
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Hidden costs of caregiving: Essential, unpaid labor for loved ones
Bruce Willis and Emma Heming Willis attend the premiere of "Motherless Brooklyn" in 2019 in New York City.
ANGELA WEISS/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
According to RAND’s most recent nationally representative survey, more than 100 million U.S. adults provide unpaid care to an adult relative or friend with a health or functional need. That same research estimates that of this group, roughly 14.3 million Americans are caring for a wounded, ill or injured service member or veteran.
Dementia, in its many forms, is a growing and significant part of that caregiving landscape. Nearly two-thirds of Americans living with Alzheimer’s disease are women, and about two-thirds of unpaid dementia caregivers are women as well.
In 2019 alone, family members and friends provided an estimated 18.6 billion hours of unpaid care to people living with dementia – care valued at roughly $244 billion. This is essential labor propping up families, health care systems and the economy – largely unseen and uncompensated. Caregiving is essential infrastructure, yet it remains largely invisible.
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For one of us, caregiving has meant confronting how unprepared our culture is to support families navigating FTD – a lesser-known form of dementia yet the most common for people under 60, often striking in the prime of their lives.
It brings profound changes to communication, behavior and movement. There is deep love in caregiving, but also grief, exhaustion and fear – grief for what has been lost and for what keeps changing.
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Dementia caregivers experience serious psychological, physical stress
Dementia caregiving is a 24/7 responsibility, with little support and few opportunities for rest.
Through the Elizabeth Dole Foundation, we have seen military and veteran caregivers facing similar realities – managing financial strain, workforce disruption and the long-term health impacts of chronic stress while caring for loved ones with Alzheimer’s, dementia linked to traumatic brain injury and other cognitive decline.
Emma Heming and Bruce Willis attend "Tony Bennett Celebrates 90: The Best Is Yet To Come" at Radio City Music Hall in 2016 in New … Show more
Research and caregiver health data shows that a substantial share of family caregivers of people living with dementia experience serious psychological and physical strain: 30% to 40% of family caregivers of people living with dementia experience symptoms of depression, while about 59% report high to very high emotional stress and 38% high to very high physical stress.
Caregiving can even be life-threatening. A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that caregivers experiencing high levels of strain face a significantly increased risk of mortality compared with non-caregivers.
“I feel alone,” is one of the most common refrains among caregivers.
And yet, despite the physical, emotional and financial strain, nearly half of dementia caregivers report that the experience is deeply meaningful. Love and purpose coexist with exhaustion and grief.
Opinion alerts: Get columns from your favorite columnists + expert analysis on top issues, delivered straight to your device through the USA TODAY app. Don't have the app? Download it for free from your app store.
Still, love should not require self-sacrifice without support.
For 14 years, the Elizabeth Dole Foundation has worked to elevate caregivers’ voices, advance practical policy solutions and engage employers to better support caregiving employees, particularly those caring for wounded, ill or injured veterans.
Caregivers deserve to be recognized as the heroes they are, but recognition alone is not enough if it is not matched with meaningful support.
Recognition without meaningful action rings hollow
They need action.
They need workplaces where flexibility is a necessity, not a perk. They need health care systems that treat caregivers as essential members of the care team. They need elected officials who understand that supporting caregivers strengthens families, stabilizes the workforce and reduces long-term health care costs.
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Caregiving is not a niche concern. It is a defining test of who we are as a nation, shaping our population, our health care system and our economy.
At some point, nearly every one of us will either provide care or need it. How we respond now will determine whether caregivers continue to shoulder this responsibility in isolation or are finally met with the support they deserve.
By 2050, global dementia cases are expected to nearly triple. Without meaningful changes, millions more families will shoulder this responsibility alone. We cannot afford to keep treating caregiving as invisible.
If we are willing to see caregivers clearly – including those navigating Alzheimer’s, FTD and other forms of cognitive decline – and support them deliberately, we can build a future where no one has to battle in the shadows to care for the people they love.
That responsibility belongs to all of us.
Emma Heming Willis is standing strong alongside husband Bruce Willis. See her life, career and their relationship in photos.
Emma Heming Willis is a caregiver, mother, wife and New York Times best-selling author. Steve Schwab is the CEO of the Elizabeth Dole Foundation.
You can read diverse opinions from our USA TODAY columnists and other writers on the Opinion front page, on X, formerly Twitter, @usatodayopinion and in our Opinion newsletter.
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