The Youngest Family Caregivers: Tweens And TeensPossibly as many as 5.4 million children and adolescents may be helping to perform tasks usually assumed to be an adult responsibility.”Part of growing up is learning how to help others, starting with the family. It might mean showing Grandpa how to use his new computer or helping a younger sister with homework.But millions of children and adolescents also help an ill or disabled parent, grandparent, or sibling with dressing, bathing, and mobility. They give medications, change bandages, operate equipment, act as interpreters in conversations with health care providers — all the things adult caregivers can find challenging.When the Covid-19 pandemic closed schools, children had to stay at home, where the most vulnerable live in crowded conditions that make social distancing impossible. For some, food is in short supply, and parents have lost jobs.”Whatever programs are developed, young people themselves must be part of the planning process so the services address the real challenges they face. Their futures depend on the help they receive now.Forbes August 2020: https://bit.ly/3hnxPY9