Giving Compass' Take:

• Lisa Rapaport discusses a report from the American Heart Association (AHA) that reveals informal caregiving for heart disease and stroke survivors could double by the year 2035.

• The total pricetag for treating cardiovascular disease in the U.S. will reach $1.2 trillion in that same timeframe. What can nonprofits in the healthcare sector do? AHA says programs should focus on giving money, education and training to informal caregivers and expand access to formal medical care to an aging population.

• While the U.S. has made strides in the fight against heart disease, this hasn't been the case everywhere.

As relatives and friends step in to provide increasingly complex care at home for heart attack and stroke survivors, the costs associated with such “informal” caregiving are expected to double to $128 billion by 2035, U.S. heart doctors say.

When this informal care is added to the tab for traditional medical services provided by doctors, nurses and other clinicians, the total price tag for treating cardiovascular disease in the U.S. will reach $1.2 trillion a year by 2035, according to a new report from the American Heart Association (AHA).

“Informal caregiving needs are escalating due to the aging of the U.S. population, the increased cardiovascular disease occurring at older ages, and the reduced availability and affordability of formal caregiving in the health care system,” study leader Sandra Dunbar of Emory University School of Nursing in Atlanta said by email.

Dunbar and colleagues examined survey data collected in 2014 from 16,731 adults aged 54 and older.

Among other things, the survey asked about informal caregiving provided at home by family members or friends without any compensation. Researchers then calculated the dollar value of this care based on wages paid to home health workers in the U.S. as well as the added benefit of having someone available around the clock to assist with medical tasks and day-to-day activities like eating, dressing and bathing.

Read the full article about the high costs of informal heart disease care by Lisa Rapaport at Reuters.