BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) -- Health experts said caregiving comes with significant emotional challenges with many families struggling to provide extra assistance to a parent or another loved one. Author and caregiving expert Lili Udell Fiore said it was hard being a caregiver while having a full career, raising her daughter and helping raise two step-sons. Fiore became a caregiver to three people: her aging father and mother and an aunt diagnosed with dementia. "More than once I literally had to drop everything because I got a phone call," Fiore said. A new survey by JubileeTV highlights the mental strain of being a caregiver. Fifty-nine percent of adults in the U.S. care for a family member, and they do not live in the same home. In Louisiana last year, 200,000 people took on extra responsibilities for their loved ones with Alzheimer's or other illnesses. "That's counting those people that we can count. We don't know those who are undiagnosed or those who are maybe diagnosed but refusing to go into treatment," said Delores Hurst, the executive director of the Alzheimer's Association Louisiana Chapter. Hurst said she has seen families struggle. "A wife reached out to me and she was like, 'I don't know what to do to like he is not listening to me. He's sleeping at the business,'" said Hurst. Nearly 20% of dementia cases could be prevented through better eye health: Study Fiore tells other families that communication is key and the importance of working together as a team to solve problems. One example she gave was about making decisions to keep a loved one's home clean. "Does anybody want to come by once a week or twice a week and clean dad's bathroom, or do you want to chip in so that I can have some nice cleaning lady who lives in the neighborhood come by once a day?" said Fiore. Experts said this is a national crisis as some caregivers are living paycheck to paycheck. Nearly 60% suffer from high emotional stress, 40% suffer from depression, and it's not just adults. Many children under the age of 18 provide care for a parent, grandparent or sibling with chronic medical conditions. "The biggest problem I see with that is that two out of five don't see themselves as caregivers so that shuts out any possible help in research and support systems," said Fiore. Having support systems in place will keep one family member from becoming stressed out. Fiore recommends making it a priority to have a difficult conversation about that loved one's death. "Please, I beg of you. Make sure they have their legal power of attorney set up for both medical and medical/health care and financial," said Fiore. Many families said the struggle of caregiving is worth it because every moment with their loved ones is priceless before aging or an illness steals them away. Latest News 7-year-old crashes one school bus into another during apparent training in Missouri New renderings show how A's ballpark would transform Las Vegas Strip Family Focus: Caregiving expert talks about challenges, importance of having support system Liam Payne's family releases statement as more details emerge in singer's death Mitzi Gaynor, ‘South Pacific’ star, dies at 93