Noemi Pendleton is director of the Executive Office on Aging and when it comes to family caregiving, she knows what's she's talking about. At one point, she was caring for her father-in-law, mother-in-law and grandmother-in-law.

"So because of that, I actually had to quit my job, raise my four young children - three at the time and then I had another one - try to juggle all the responsibilities of being a mom and caring for an elderly loved one," said Pendleton.

Noemi is in the "Sandwich" Generation - caring for youngsters and senior relatives at the same time. From her experience, she has some advice.

"Believe in yourself. I know that there's many challenges out there. Some people say how can I juggle this, some people are working, actually 65 percent of family caregivers are working," said Pendleton. "Another tip is take care of your health. You know, exercise regularly, eat healthy, get your flu shot."

Finally, she says, there is a broad network of individuals and institutions in a position to offer assistance to caregivers.

"Reach out. Ask for help. Don't be shy. Executive office on aging is here to help you, county agencies, family support, church, friends, organizations, all that," said Pendleton.

A good place to start is the Hawaii Caregiver Coalition.
There are an estimated 50 million family caregivers in America...

"Here locally there's between 126 thousand to a 192 thousand. And I say that because some people may not consider themselves a family caregiver because they say all I do is pick up a prescription and help with the finances and sometimes cook some meals, but that is family caregiving because you're helping a family loved one,” said Pendleton.