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    Every Caregiver Has a Story

    Every caregiver has a story that’s unique only to them. This November, for National Family Caregivers Month, Family Caregiver Alliance is honoring family and friend caregivers’ diverse experiences by sharing their voices and stories. 

    Every caregiver — and every caregiving journey — is unique. America’s 53+ million caregivers identify with an incredibly wide range of ages, ethnicities, cultural backgrounds, professions and family structures. Just as caregivers differ from one another, each of their caregiving journeys is distinct — from the challenges, rewards and emotions they navigate to their specific caregiving tasks and the ways they’ve integrated caregiving into their lives. 

    In FCA’s 40+ years of supporting family and friend caregivers, we have been privileged to hear the stories and personal experiences of thousands of family and friend caregivers. We’ve learned that if you’ve met one caregiver, you’ve met one caregiver. Every caregiver has a story as unique as they are. 

    In their own words: caregivers’ struggles and joys

    This National Family Caregivers Month, we’re honored to share the voices and stories of just a few of those caregivers, through the videos and written stories featured here. We feel that few things are more powerful than hearing from caregivers in their own words. For fellow caregivers, it can be comforting hearing from others who share some of your struggles; for those who are not yet caregivers, it can be enlightening to hear personal stories like these: 

    As we’ve heard, the circumstances, struggles and rewards of caregiving can differ greatly from one caregiver to another. There’s no typical “day in the life” — one caregiver may be caring for a spouse living at home with a chronic condition, whereas another is providing long distance care to a parent in another state, and another still visits their relative daily in an assisted living facility while handling all their financial, legal and medical matters. There is no typical day or typical caregiving journey. 

    Caregivers who contact FCA or other Caregiver Resource Centers typically seek help with needs or challenges that are very specific to their own personal journey. These can range from finding community resources and legal assistance to learning caregiving basics or getting mental health support. They may need information about conditions like Alzheimer’s, dementia or other cognitive or physical impairments. Sometimes, it’s simply the need to know they are not alone – that they’re seen, understood and valued.

    Some of the thousands of resources we provide to caregivers are linked at the bottom of this article. But one of the messages that we share most often is the need for caregivers to practice self-care, as stated so powerfully here by a caregiver named Alejandro: 

    We’ve got mail: letters from caregivers 

    We regularly receive letters from our caregiver clients and community, in which they share reflections, struggles, joys and discoveries. Here is a small sample of those stories: adult children struggling with parents’ dementia, family members putting careers on hold, caregivers finding refuge in their faith, and more.

    Burnout and depression
    Burned out, siblings not helping
    Sole caregiver is exhausted and depressed
    Feeling hopeless

    Interrupted Lives
    Leaving college to care for an aging parent
    Leaving a career behind

    Hope
    Learning to ask for help
    Hiring a caregiver to help
    Finding hope in faith 

    Pain and Disease Management
    Advocating for a father’s pain treatment
    A parent’s worst nightmare

    Elevating caregiver voices – it takes all of us

    Family caregivers have been largely absent in our cultural dialogue but are finally starting to become more visible — in the media, film, streaming shows and in everyday conversation. Together, we can continue building momentum toward a broader recognition, valuation and support for the millions of individuals who provide unpaid care to millions more Americans. 

    Part of this work is storytelling; part of it is engagement, service and advocacy by organizations. If you’re a caregiver, we hope you’ll share your story with others, from friends and colleagues to health care and social service providers who can support and assist you. There is power in sharing your experience – your voice and perspective are incredibly important. 

    If you’re a professional in the aging or caregiving space, we invite you to strive further on behalf of family caregivers. We also invite you to check out our new training series created for all professionals who work with family caregivers: Improving Practice: Working with Diverse Family Caregivers is a 4-hour online course that explores the challenges of diverse family caregivers and discusses practice changes to better support them.

    Resources for caregivers

    FCA’s website has thousands of different resources for caregivers, from webinars and support groups to articles, tip sheets and video series. All materials feature expert guidance and everyday actions for caregivers to improve their lives and those of their care recipients. 

    For any family caregiver seeking assistance, we recommend signing up for our free, secure and customizable tool, CareNav™. It’s a simple, user-friendly online dashboard designed to help families navigate the complexities of the caregiving journey. For caregivers whose primary language is Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese, or Tagalog we invite you to visit our website for resources in your language – here’s an overview of resources in languages other than English. 

    Finally, here’s a collection of our most popular English-language caregiving resources. We hope you find them helpful and share them with family caregivers! 

    Self-Care

    Dementia 

    Non-Dementia Chronic Conditions

    Daily Care

    Planning for Care

    And More …