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Care Managers Can Help Ease Caregiver Burnout

If you’re a family caregiver for someone who is older or challenged with chronic illness, you’re certainly familiar with stress and burnout. Last fall, the Aging Life Care Association^® (ALCA) surveyed its members (including LifeCare Advocates) about their clients who are family caregivers. The results: 49% of those surveyed listed caregiver burnout as a primary challenge for their clients. Along with burnout, intrafamilial disagreement, lack of family involvement, and financial issues were also cited as leading challenges.

“Too often by the time I am called to assist a family, the family caregiver is stressed and emotionally exhausted,” said Connie McKenzie, RN, CMC and president of ALCA. “It’s common for family caregivers to feel guilty for wanting and needing a break.”

Caregiving was already a challenging role, and COVID added layers of complication and stress to people’s roles as parents, partners, and employees. Those who also cared for their parents – either from a distance, in the same town, or in the same home – saw the complexities of daily life rise exponentially. 

The Aging Life Care Managers at LifeCare Advocates stepped in for many of these families, easing their load by managing their older loved ones’ care needs. Wherever in the country the parent needing help lived, we were available to manage their care and monitor their ongoing well-being.  

Now, people are returning to their offices and resuming business travel and other commitments. Those who relocated to live near or with their parents because they could work online are moving back home. Some are relocating their parents to be closer to them. Amid all these changes and uncertainty, the need for the type of assistance LCA provides has become more and more critical for caregivers.

“We’re helping many families realign and reorient their goals,” says Kate Granigan, CEO of LifeCare Advocates (LCA). “Especially with people who are in the ‘sandwich’ caregiving situation, where they have their parents plus their own families to look after.”

An LCA care manager can help you figure out what kind of help or services you need, where to find them, and how to make them work within your budget. After they help you create a plan, they can stay on to manage the process or simply be available as a coach on an as-needed basis. Many clients find that hiring a care manager ends up saving them money by ensuring they don’t incur unnecessary expenses. And, a special bonus: It helps family caregivers avoid burnout and refocus on their other important roles – parent, partner, friend, and colleague.

Contact us for more information – we’d love to hear how we can help you solve your caregiving needs.