PORTSMOUTH — Aaron Bollinger was awarded the 2015 Caregiver of the Year award at this year’s Area Agency on Aging District 7 (AAA7) Annual Appreciation Brunch, which was recently hosted at the Southern Ohio Medical Center Friends Center in Portsmouth.

During the event, several individuals and groups throughout the Agency’s 10-county district were recognized for their service and dedication to not only the agency as a whole, but to the communities and seniors served by the agency. The Area Agency on Aging District 7 serves the following counties: Adams, Brown, Gallia, Highland, Jackson, Lawrence, Pike, Ross, Scioto and Vinton.

Informal caregivers are those unpaid individuals such as a spouse, partner, family member, friend, or neighbor who are involved in assisting others with activities of daily living or medical tasks. 65 million caregivers make up 29 percent of the adult population providing this care in the United States.

A Gallup survey in November 2012 found 72 percent of caregivers were caring for a parent, step-parent, mother in-law or father in-law, with 50 percent of these caregivers being employed full-time. Working caregivers often must rearrange their work schedules, decrease their work hours, or take unpaid leave to care for their loved ones.

The Caregiver Support Program at the Area Agency on Aging District 7 (AAA7) was created in 2001 through the Older Americans Act funding to assist informal caregivers with information about caring for themselves and their loved ones, providing respite services, and linking caregivers to other needed services.