Caregiver Resources: Reduce the Risk of Burnout
7 things every family caregiver should know – but many don’t
If you are a caregiver, whether you’re helping a spouse, parent, another adult relative or a friend with a disability, health need or medical crisis, you don’t have to go it alone.
Links to National Caregiver Resources:
Advance Directives by State or Territory from CaringInfo
Alzheimer’s Association - Dementia Caregiving
Find Your SHIP (State Health Insurance Assistance Program)
Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly
National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys
National Alliance for Care at Home CaringInfo Advance Directives
National Alliance for Caregiving
National Council on Aging Benefits Checkup Tool
National Council on Aging Caregiver Support
National Respite Locator Service
Support Caregiving – Family Caregiver guide
Michigan-specific Resources:
MI Caregiver Connection Respite and Adult Day Center
MI Power of Attorney and Advance Directive Resources
Transcript
Welcome to Health Lab, your destination for news and stories about the future of healthcare.
Caregiving takes many forms. Whether you’re helping a spouse, parent, adult child or other adult relative or a friend with a disability, health need or medical crisis, you’re a caregiver - even if you don’t think of yourself as one, and it’s important to know that you don’t have to go it alone.
Today we’re sharing seven resources that every family caregiver should know - but many don’t.
Being a caregiver means that you’re doing the important, and probably unpaid, work of helping another adult take care of their daily needs and medical conditions, navigate life with a disability, or get through a health crisis.
You might live with them, or miles away. You might spend a few hours a month taking care of them, or several hours a day. You might help multiple adults, or you may be raising children at the same time.
But no matter what your caregiver role is, you may not know about all the resources and services available to you and the person you take care of. It’s not always easy to find these programs, especially when you’re busy providing care.
But they can make a big difference in the time, money and worry you spend on caregiving, as well as improve your loved one’s ability to live with dignity and independence.
And they can also reduce your risk of caregiver burnout.
More than 60 million Americans qualify as caregivers.
In fact, 26% of people over age 50 provided regular or ongoing care to at least one adult with health or disability needs in the past year, according to data gathered earlier this year by the University of Michigan National Poll on Healthy Aging, or NPHA.
But the poll has repeatedly found that older adults and their caregivers need more information about or connections to programs in their area.
Erica Solway, Ph.D., the poll’s deputy director and a specialist in aging-related social services says, “After nine years of polling people age 50 and over, we’ve noticed a pattern: many people just don’t know what’s out there to help older adults and their caregivers, [and] with the federal Older Americans Act that funds many of these services up for reauthorization, and aging- and caregiver-related policies being discussed at the state and federal levels, making up-to-date and trustworthy information easy to find is critical.”
Dr. Solway and her colleagues put together the following key tips with some new data from recent polls.
Here are 7 tips caregivers should know, and links for all of these will be included in the episode description:
1. No matter where you live, there’s a “front door” for finding help
You may not know its name, or exactly what it does, but wherever you are in the U.S., there’s already an organization in your area that can help caregivers to older adults and people with disabilities.
It’s called an Area Agency on Aging, and it receives funding from the federal government.
Area Agencies on Aging exist all over the country. Some serve a city or a few counties, others cover broader areas.
“Your AAA is a front door to services in your area, from food and transportation help to in-home assistance and caregiver support programs,” Dr. Solway says. She goes on, “It may run some programs directly, or it may provide information about programs that other local organizations offer.”
AAA staff can provide information on the age ranges, income levels and other criteria for each program. But despite AAAs being available across the country, 63% of Americans aged 50 and over have never heard of Area Agencies on Aging, and another 30% have heard of them but not used them, according to NPHA data from September 2025.
Only 7% say they have used Area Agency on Aging services, though caregivers were more likely than non-caregivers to have heard of AAAs.
But more than half (56%) of caregivers hadn’t heard of Area Agencies on Aging, and only 11% had used one, despite the helpful support that Area Agencies on Aging can provide to caregivers.
Michiganders over 50 were more likely than people in other states to have heard of or used AAAs (48% vs. 36%), with Michigan caregivers more likely than caregivers in other states to have heard of or used one (59% vs. 44%).
Once you’ve found your local Area Agency on Aging, bookmark its website, follow its social media pages, and join its email list to stay up to date on what it has to offer.
You may also want to use the Benefits Checkup tool from the National Council on Aging to see which programs the person you care for might qualify for.
2. Insurance coverage matters, and free help is available
If a person has a health condition or disability serious enough to warrant caregiver support, what kind of health insurance they have can really make a difference.
Monthly premium costs, co-pays, plan-specific networks of doctors and hospitals, and coverage for specific drugs and services can vary a lot between plans.
People over age 65 and people with major disabilities often get their insurance from Medicare or Medicaid, or both, or from the VA if they served in the military.
Some people may qualify for special programs but not realize it.
If the person you care for has Medicare, they can change their plan once a year during the Open Enrollment period from October 15 to December 7, with changes taking effect the following January.
But there may be a lot of options depending on where they live, and it can get very confusing.
The biggest decision regarding Medicare coverage is whether to go with traditional Medicare run by the federal government, or a Medicare Advantage plan run by an insurance company.
And even traditional Medicare comes with choices for prescription drug plans and “Medigap” add-on plans.
Medicare’s own website offers ways to explore options available to each person, including comparing the cost for specific drugs under different Medicare Part D prescription plans.
Information about the options and costs for plans for the next year is published around mid-September.
Some people seek guidance from insurance brokers, but keep in mind that they make money based on which plan their clients choose.
If you want impartial advice, you can access it from the counselors at your State Health Insurance Assistance Program, or SHIP.
The service is free, funded by your state and the federal Medicare program, and provided by staff and trained volunteers.
Even so, NPHA data show that 69% of people over 65 aren’t familiar with SHIP.
When you meet with a SHIP counselor, bring a list of the medications that the person you care for takes, the doctors and hospitals they trust most, and any specialty care they’ve received.
If the person you care for is over 55 and living at home but ill, disabled or frail enough to meet criteria for nursing home care, you might want to see if there is a Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly program in your area.
If they qualify, this covers a wide range of health and support services, and is designed to enable them to keep living at home.
In Michigan, the new MI Options program offers even more help beyond Medicare choices. It connects older adults, people with disabilities, and caregivers with trained counselors who work for the state. MI Options staff can advise not only on Medicare, but also on other types of programs that a person might be eligible for, including home-based services that can potentially help someone avoid a nursing home.
The MI Options program launched in summer 2025, and new data from the National Poll on Health Aging shows that by early 2026, just 18% of Michiganders age 50 and older had heard of it or used it.
About 10% of Michigan caregivers over 50 said they had used the MI Options service, and another 17% of caregivers had heard of it.
But 73% of Michigan caregivers said they had not heard of the MI Options program as of early 2026.
3. Advance Directives: Make sure your loved one has their wishes in writing
The person you provide care for may be related to you, or may not, but depending on your exact relationship to them and their condition, the legal system may not recognize your role without properly documented authorization.
This means that without the proper planning documents in place, health care providers may not be able to allow you to help make decisions about the care of the person you are helping if they have a health crisis and can’t make their own decisions.
If your loved one does want you to be involved in their health care, they can make that legally known using freely available documents. In fact, everyone should fill these out, no matter what their health or disability status.
The most common advance directive for health care use is called a durable power of attorney, or DPOA, for health care form which includes a place to designate a Patient Advocate. A Patient Advocate is the person officially enabled to make medical decisions for another person if they’re unable to do so for themselves temporarily or permanently.
According to NPHA poll data from August 2024, only 27% of people over 50 have completed an advance directive.
Michigan Medicine offers a free booklet to walk you through the process, with forms you can print that conform to Michigan law.
It’s available in English, Spanish, Arabic, Mandarin Chinese, Japanese, Korean, French and Russian.
The CaringInfo organization offers forms for other states, and many hospitals also offer them.
Once filled out, make sure the form is added to a person’s electronic health record. The staff at a doctor’s office can help, or you can upload it directly to a patient portal. Also keep a printed copy in an easy-to-find place in the person’s home too.
There are also other legal forms, including a financial power of attorney, and more complicated ones for guardianship or conservatorship when a person is permanently unable to care for themselves or make decisions.
The State of Michigan now offers a financial power of attorney form that can be saved, filled out on a computer, and printed for signing. For more information and referrals to local help, the Family Caregiver Alliance and National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys can be good resources for finding services and professionals.
4. Have the person you care for involve you in their health care, even if you live far away
When caregivers go to a person’s health care appointments, they can ask questions, take notes, and then help the person follow the health care provider’s instructions for prescriptions, self-care regimens, follow up tests and appointments and more.
According to 2026 NPHA data, 69% of caregivers say they have attended at least one medical appointment of the person they care for, and 76% of them said the health care providers included them in ways that helped them support the person they care for.
Another NPHA poll conducted in February 2025 found that 92% of people over age 50 who had another adult accompany them to an appointment agreed that having someone else there was helpful.
If you live in a different place from the person you provide care for, or you can’t make it to a specific appointment in person, you can ask to have them start a video or audio call with you on the phone once they are in their in-person appointment.
That way, you can hear what’s being said, ask questions, and take notes.
The patient should tell the health care provider they are doing this.
If the person you’re caring for has a telehealth appointment and you’re not in the same place as them, you can ask them to share the video call link with you once the appointment has begun.
As long as the patient says it is OK for someone else to be on the telehealth appointment, it is allowed.
Patient portal accounts can be another important part of caregiving and supporting the person with their health care needs.
The person you care for should have their own account on the patient portal for every health care provider’s office, hospital or health system they go to, so they can see their records and appointments, send and receive messages, and more.
But as their caregiver, you can get permission to have “proxy” access, with your own login name and password.
A U-M NPHA poll from July 2022 found that only 12% of people over 50 who helped other adults with health care tasks had set up this kind of access.
Don’t be afraid to contact the help desk at your hospital or health system to guide you through this process.
5. “Aging in place” is what most people want – and you can help them prepare
The vast majority (84%) of people over 65 say it’s likely they’ll live in their current home for the rest of their life, but only 46% have taken steps to “age in place,” according to NPHA data from February 2025.
If the person you provide care for lives in a house, condo or apartment that’s not optimized for aging or living with a disability, adding grab bars in showers, railings on porch steps, or a ramp on one exterior entrance can make a big difference.
To make these changes, you can seek help from multiple sources.
Start with your Area Agency on Aging, which may offer home modification programs or know of other programs in your area.
They will also know if your state, county or city have programs that might be able to help; such programs often aim to reduce the risk that someone will need nursing home care.
The United Way’s 211 service in your area could also be a good place to start – call 211 from any phone or visit their national Caregiver page.
For those who own their homes, investing in making modifications now can help preserve the ability to live at home as long as possible. Your region’s Center for Independent Living, a federally funded organization focused on the needs of people with disabilities, can often help.
As you assess options, you may want to look for professionals who have completed training as Certified Aging-in-Place Specialists (CAPS) through the AARP.
There are also professionals who specialize in conducting home safety assessments and pointing out opportunities to reduce risk of falls.
Ask your Area Agency on Aging if they can recommend assessors in your area.
6. Caregivers need breaks – and there are programs to help
If the person you care for has Alzheimer’s disease, another form of dementia, a cognitive disability, a movement disorder such as Parkinson’s disease, or other major health or disability-related needs, being their caregiver can demand a lot of your time, attention and energy.
For many, it can feel like a full-time job, or a second job on top of working for pay, parenting, or both.
And few family caregivers qualify for any sort of payment or tax credit for the time and money they spend on caregiving, though some states and the Veterans Health Administration offer this financial support in some cases.
But caregivers aren’t superhuman.
If you keep going without a break, a vacation, or time to tend to your own needs or self-care, you could burn out.
Which wouldn’t help you or the person you’re caring for.
That’s why adult day care programs, respite care programs, and other programs to support caregivers have become increasingly common.
Many of them cost money, but financial support may be available based on income, yet U-M poll data shows that most caregivers have not used these programs or heard of them.
Only 9% of caregivers said the person they cared for had used an adult day program, where a caregiver can bring their relative or friend to take part in supervised, structured activities for a few hours to a full day, and only 11% of all caregivers had used any form of respite, which provides a “break” from caregiving through a paid or unpaid helper coming to the home, a short-term stay in a residential facility, or an emergency respite (for example if a caregiver has a sudden health issue).
Find out what’s available in your area through your Area Agency on Aging, your local senior center, or the National Respite Locator Service run by the ARCH National Respite Network. If you’re in Michigan, the MI Caregiver Connection site has a respite and adult day center page.
7. Be a savvy Internet surfer when looking for caregiving information
With millions of people looking for caregiving and health information and help, there are a lot of businesses and scammers competing for your clicks, follows, likes, email signups and dollars.
Search engines increasingly use AI to summarize results, even though NPHA data show that 74% of people over 50 have little to no trust in health information generated by AI.
Meanwhile, the government agencies and nonprofit organizations that can offer trustworthy information may not have the money or marketing dollars to compete against them. They may not be as visible in Internet searches and on social media.
Being a caregiver takes a lot of time, and you don’t have time to waste hunting around and trying to figure out what information to trust.
There are several websites run by caregiving organizations that offer good information, like:
Family Caregiver Alliance
National Alliance for Caregiving
AARP Caregiving
National Council on Aging Caregiver Support
Caregiver Action Network
Support Caregiving – Family Caregiver guide
Alzheimer’s Association - Dementia Caregiving
VA Caregiver Support Program
988 Lifeline
All of these and more will be linked in the description for this episode.
A reminder that all Health Lab content including health news, best practices and research insights are for informational purposes only, and are not a substitute for professional medical guidance. Always seek the advice of a health care provider for questions about your health and treatment options.
For more on this story and for others like it, visit michiganmedicine.org/health-lab where you can subscribe to our Health Lab newsletters to receive the latest in health, wellness and medical research information to your inbox each week. Health Lab is a part of the Michigan Medicine Podcast Network, and is produced by the Michigan Medicine Department of Communication. You can subscribe to Health Lab wherever you listen to podcasts.
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