Living with Gratitude: The Important Role of Family Caregivers

Family caregivers play valuable and vital roles in the lives of the people they care for. Whether they’re cancer caregivers, they’re helping a disabled spouse, or they’re providing support for someone with Alzheimer’s disease, there are many ways to be a caregiver.

Some family members are long-distance caregivers, offering emotional support and helpful tips to the other family members who live closer and handle more hands-on care. Whether you’re involved in long-distance caregiving or taking your loved one to medical appointments and handling personal care daily, your role is a critical and essential one.

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Who Are Caregivers?

Caregivers are mothers and daughters, fathers and sons, siblings, cousins, nephews and nieces, spouses, and more. In other words, anyone can be a caregiver for a relative or friend. In most cases, though, informal caregivers don’t think of themselves that way. Instead, they just do what they do because they care about their loved ones.

If you’re caregiving for a spouse, parent, or other family member, you’re definitely not alone. According to the National Alliance for Caregiving, in 2020, it was estimated that nearly 53 million Americans provided more than 37 billion hours of unpaid, “informal” care each year to adult family members and friends. This number rose from the 44 million people providing informal caregiving duties in 2009.

These caregivers help loved ones with chronic illnesses or conditions that prevent them from handling daily living activities such as bathing, managing medications, or preparing meals independently. Whether the loved one had a disability, was in an accident, or needed help due to aging, it was (and still is) often on the family to provide caregiving services and locate resources to improve quality of life.

While most family caregivers are happy to help their loved ones and find the work rewarding, many also struggle to balance caregiving responsibilities and their own needs. Respite care can help with this balance, but not every caregiver has this option.

Family caregivers who can’t always meet the needs of the care recipient may feel guilty and frustrated, which can cause them to deal with depression, anxiety, and other mental health issues. 

Non-caregivers don’t always understand the stress and strain of caregiving needs, but having resources and helpful tips for balancing roles and responsibilities is very important.

What Are the Roles of Caregivers? 

The roles of caregivers can vary greatly depending on the needs of the care recipient, the caregiver’s relationship to that person, the services available in the community, and other factors. Some caregivers provide overall daily living support, while others focus on specific areas where the recipient needs help.

Nearly 75% of the time, the caregiving responsibilities fall to women with an average age of 46. These women typically work outside the home and spend at least 20 hours per week caring for a family member. Most caregivers are between 35 and 64 years of age, and the majority are married.

Additionally, around 60% of all caregivers work full-time or part-time, which can become a juggling act when they have to help with activities of daily living for a family member, work, and maintain a household. The assistance they provide to a loved one is priceless, but it can leave them feeling burnt out and overly stressed.

Struggling with caregiver stress is very real for spouses, children, and other family members who provide health care services and support for their family members. Family caregiving responsibilities can take a significant toll on informal caregivers, often because they’re not health professionals and are trying to do many different tasks with very few resources.

The Important Role of Family Caregivers

One reason family caregivers are so important is the costs associated with caregiving. Hiring a paid professional to care for a family member in the home is often more than the care recipient or their family can afford. Because of concerns over finances, it’s not feasible to put a loved one into a nursing facility or have a professional help them at home.

Instead, the care falls to an adult child, a parent, or a friend who may not be sure exactly how to help and isn’t trained for the responsibility. Fortunately, some resources through hospitals and other organizations can help caregivers learn more about caregiving’s physical and mental requirements for someone they love.

Caregivers with the support programs they need can also benefit from caring for a loved one through the time spent with them and the joy of helping them continue to experience a good quality of life. 

However, it’s essential for any person who’s caring for a loved one to understand the seriousness of the role and seek out help through respite care or other programs if they find themselves becoming overwhelmed.

Challenges of Family Caregivers

For caregivers, providing care for an older adult can often present difficult challenges. Stressors associated with caring for an older adult with complex health issues, such as declining physical and/or mental capacity and care-related expenses, can cause a shift in personal life priorities that can be emotionally and physically difficult. 

Numerous studies have explored how gratitude can positively affect one’s well-being, but it’s not always easy to find gratitude in the moment.

One of the most significant problems many family caregivers face is experiencing caregiver burnout. This happens when the caregiving role becomes too much for a parent, child, or other family member to handle. 

From cancer caregivers who are seeing loved ones decline to those who provide other types of health care for loved ones, burnout can be a very real issue that’s difficult to work through.

Where do Caregivers Go for Help?

Among the most helpful tips for caregivers is to get in touch with programs that can help. The Family Caregiver Alliance, National Family Caregivers, Veterans’ programs, and other options can make it easier for you to help your loved one and yourself at the same time.

Also, make sure to start each day with an attitude of gratitude. While that’s not always easy when faced with a loved one’s ill health and your caregiving role, focusing on gratitude and reaching out for the support you need can go a long way toward a better caregiving experience.

How CarePatrol Helps

CarePatrol exists to help families find the best option for their loved ones needing senior care. If the day comes when caregiving becomes too much, our local senior care advisors can help you identify the best care option and the best senior living facility. Contact us for more information.