Caregivers

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Basics

• Summary
• Start Here

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• Related Issues
• Specifics

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Research

• Statistics and Research
• Clinical Trials
• Journal Articles

Resources

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For You

• Older Adults
• Patient Handouts

Summary

A caregiver gives care to someone who needs help taking care of themselves. The person who needs help may be a child, an adult, or an older adult. They may need help because of an injury or disability. Or they may have a chronic illness such as Alzheimer's disease or cancer.

Some caregivers are informal caregivers. They are usually family members or friends. Other caregivers are paid professionals. Caregivers may give care at home or in a hospital or other health care setting. Sometimes they are caregiving from a distance. The types of tasks that caregivers do may include:

• Helping with daily tasks like bathing, eating, or taking medicine
• Doing housework and cooking
• Running errands such as shopping for food and clothes
• Driving the person to appointments
• Providing company and emotional support
• Arranging activities and medical care
• Making health and financial decisions

Caregiving can be rewarding. It may help to strengthen connections to a loved one. You may feel fulfillment from helping someone else. But caregiving may also be stressful and sometimes even overwhelming. You may be "on call" for 24 hours a day. You may also be working outside the home and taking care of children. So you need to make sure that you are not ignoring your own needs. You have to take care of your own physical and mental health as well. Because when you feel better, you can take better care of your loved one. It will also be easier to focus on the rewards of caregiving.

Dept. of Health and Human Services Office on Women's Health

Start Here

• Hands-On Skills for Caregivers (Family Caregiver Alliance)
• If You're about to Become a Cancer Caregiver (American Cancer Society)

Related Issues

• Adult Day Care (Administration for Community Living)
• Caregiving and Sibling Relationships: Challenges and Opportunities (Family Caregiver Alliance)
• Caregiving at Home: A Guide to Community Resources (Family Caregiver Alliance)
• Caring for Siblings of Kids with Disabilities (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish
• Emergency Readiness for Older Adults and People with Disabilities (Administration for Community Living)
• Getting Started with Long-Distance Caregiving (National Institute on Aging)
• Guidelines for Better Communication with Brain Impaired Adults (Family Caregiver Alliance)
• Long-Distance Caregiving (National Institute on Aging)
• VA Caregiver Support (Veterans Health Administration)
• What Are the Caregiver's Rights? (American Heart Association) - PDF

Specifics

• Brushing: Information for Caregivers (National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research) - PDF Also in Spanish
• Caregiver Health (National Library of Medicine) Also in Spanish
• Caring for a Person Who Has Intellectual or Developmental Disabilities (American Academy of Family Physicians) Also in Spanish
• Dry Mouth and Older Adults: Information for Caregivers (National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research) - PDF Also in Spanish
• Family Caregivers and Transportation: A Few Survival Tips (Healthy Living Tips) (Administration for Community Living) - PDF
• Finding Low-Cost Dental Care: Information for Caregivers (National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research) - PDF Also in Spanish
• Flossing: Information for Caregivers (National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research) - PDF Also in Spanish
• Guide for Caregivers (National Multiple Sclerosis Society) - PDF Also in Spanish
• Hospital Discharge Planning: A Guide for Families and Caregivers (Family Caregiver Alliance)
• Informal Caregivers in Cancer (National Cancer Institute) Also in Spanish
• MDA Resources for Caregivers (Muscular Dystrophy Association)

Statistics and Research

• Caregiver Statistics: Demographics (Family Caregiver Alliance)

Clinical Trials

• ClinicalTrials.gov: Caregivers (National Institutes of Health)

Journal Articles References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)

• Article: Stroke Riskometer Application (SRA™) influence on lifestyle changes of home bound...
• Article: Hopefulness among individuals living with schizophrenia and their caregivers in Tanzania:...
• Article: Analyzing Twitter-Based Social Networks of Support Communities for Hispanic and African...
• Caregivers -- see more articles

Find an Expert

• AAAs (Area Agencies on Aging) & Title VI Aging Programs (USAging)
• Caregiver Action Network
• Family Care Navigator: State-by-State Help for Family Caregivers (Family Caregiver Alliance)
• National Institute on Aging Also in Spanish

Older Adults

• Home Health Care (AGS Health in Aging Foundation)

Patient Handouts

• Bathing a patient in bed (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Caregiving - resources - older adults (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Moving a patient from bed to a wheelchair (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Pulling a patient up in bed (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Turning patients over in bed (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish