Every Caregiver Deserves Support

What is Caregiving?

For centuries, caregiving has played a natural role in family life. Historically, multiple generations lived together, allowing adult children to support aging parents and family members more easily. As society has evolved, this arrangement has become less common. Families now live further apart, and more people live longer with complex or advanced health conditions.  As a result, many individuals balance caregiving alongside work, parenting and other responsibilities.

Caregiving typically involves supporting someone with a chronic illness, disability or age-related limitations. While caregivers may provide medical care, they more often assist with daily activities such as eating, bathing, managing medications, coordinating appointments, handling finances, providing transportation and offering emotional support. Many people who take on this role don’t identify themselves as caregivers — they instead simply see themselves helping someone they care about.

Informal vs. Formal Caregivers

Most caregivers fall into the category of informal caregivers. These individuals are usually a friend or family member who provides unpaid care to someone with whom they have a personal relationship. Many informal caregivers support aging parents, relatives or friends while also caring for their own children and having to balance multiple responsibilities.

Informal caregiving can take many forms:

• A husband who helps his wife bathe and manages her medications,
• A daughter-in-law who drives aging parents to appointments and helps with household tasks.
• A friend who shops for groceries for an elderly neighbor.

By contrast, formal caregivers provide care in a professional or volunteer capacity. These types of caregivers often include nurses, doctors or home health aides, who work in homes, hospitals or other healthcare settings. While caregiver requirements vary from state to state, formal caregivers usually have at least a basic certification or training.

Both informal and formal caregivers may provide care in their own homes the patient’s home, or in other healthcare settings such as nursing homes or assisted living communities. They support patient’s daily needs, provide supervision and help their patients’ lives as independently as possible, while complementing other care they’re receiving.