Health Topic

Caregiver Health

Caregiving can be rewarding, but it may also be stressful and sometimes even overwhelming. Learn how to prevent or relieve caregiver stress.

Reviewed Reviewed by a registered pharmacistGeneral information

Also called: Caring for the caregiver

Important: This page is general information, not medical advice. It does not recommend or prescribe any treatment. Always consult your doctor or pharmacist before starting, stopping or changing any medicine.

About Caregiver Health

A caregiver gives care to someone who needs help taking care of themselves. The person who needs help may be a child, an adult, or an older adult. They may need help because of an injury, chronic illness, or disability.

Some caregivers are informal caregivers. They are usually family members or friends. Other caregivers are paid professionals. Caregivers may give care at home or in a hospital or other health care setting. Sometimes they are caregiving from a distance. The types of tasks that caregivers do may include:

  • Helping with daily tasks like bathing, eating, or taking medicine
  • Arranging activities and medical care
  • Making health and financial decisions

Caregiving can be rewarding. It may help to strengthen connections to a loved one. You may feel fulfillment from helping someone else. But caregiving may also be stressful and sometimes even overwhelming. Caregiving may involve meeting complex demands without any training or help. You may also be working and have children or others to care for. To meet all of the demands, you might be putting your own needs and feelings aside. But that's not good for your long-term health. But you need to make sure that you are also taking care of yourself.

Many caregivers are affected by caregiver stress. This is the stress that comes from the emotional and physical strain of caregiving. The signs include:

  • Feeling overwhelmed
  • Feeling alone, isolated, or deserted by others
  • Sleeping too much or too little
  • Gaining or losing a lot of weight
  • Feeling tired most of the time
  • Losing interest in activities you used to enjoy
  • Becoming easily irritated or angered
  • Feeling worried or sad often
  • Having headaches or body aches often
  • Turning to unhealthy behaviors like smoking or drinking too much alcohol

Long-term caregiver stress may put you at risk for many different health problems. Some of these problems can be serious. They include:

  • Depression and anxiety
  • A weak immune system
  • Excess weight and obesity
  • Chronic diseases such as heart disease, cancer, diabetes, or arthritis. Depression and obesity can raise the risk of these diseases even more.
  • Problems with short-term memory or paying attention

Taking steps to prevent or relieve caregiver stress may help prevent health problems. Remember that if you feel better, you can take better care of your loved one. It will also be easier to focus on the rewards of caregiving. Some ways to help yourself include:

  • Learning better ways to help your loved one. For examples, hospitals offer classes that can teach you how to care for someone with an injury or illness.
  • Finding caregiving resources in your community to help you. Many communities have adult daycare services or respite services. Using one of these can give you a break from your caregiving duties.
  • Asking for and accepting help. Make a list of ways others can help you. Let helpers choose what they would like to do. For instance, someone might sit with the person you care for while you do an errand. Someone else might pick up groceries for you.
  • Joining a support group for caregivers. A support group can allow you to share stories, pick up caregiving tips, and get support from others who face the same challenges as you do.
  • Being organized to make caregiving more manageable. Make to-do lists and set a daily routine.
  • Staying in touch with family and friends. It's important for you to have emotional support.
  • Taking care of your own health. Try to find time to be physically active on most days of the week, choose healthy foods, and get enough sleep. Make sure that you keep up with your medical care such as regular checkups and screenings.
  • Considering taking a break from your job, if you also work and are feeling overwhelmed. Under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act, eligible employees can take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave per year to care for relatives. Check with your human resources office about your options.

Dept. of Health and Human Services Office on Women's Health

It sits within Social/Family Issues.

The lead U.S. institute for this subject is the National Institute on Aging.

When to speak to someone. Reading about a topic cannot tell you whether it applies to you. Speak to a doctor or pharmacist if symptoms are severe, sudden, getting worse, or simply not going away — and seek emergency care immediately for chest pain, breathing difficulty, sudden weakness or confusion, or a serious allergic reaction.

Research on Caregiver Health

625 studies areregistered for this condition on ClinicalTrials.gov, the U.S. National Library of Medicine's public registry. A selection is below — the links go straight to the registry entry, not to a summary of ours.

What a registered study does and does not mean. Registration means a study exists and has been declared publicly. It says nothing about whether the treatment being tested works, is safe, or is available to you. Many studies find no benefit — that is what research is for. Never seek out an experimental treatment on the strength of a registry entry alone.

Research currently under way

Research already completed

Study data from ClinicalTrials.gov, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine. Retrieved 2026-07-30. Registry entries are supplied by study sponsors and investigators; ClinicalTrials.gov does not verify their scientific validity. PocketsInfo is not affiliated with, and not endorsed by, the NLM or the NIH.

Where to read more

Rather than paraphrase, we point you to the primary sources. Every link below is to a government health agency, a national institute or a recognised medical body — grouped by what you are trying to find out.

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Treatments and Therapies

Living With

Related Issues

Clinical Trials

Medical subject headings

Clinicians and researchers index this subject under Caregivers. These are the terms to use when searching medical literature.

This page is built from the MedlinePlus health topic record for Caregiver Health, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM), National Institutes of Health. Information is from MedlinePlus.gov. PocketsInfo is not affiliated with, and is not endorsed by, the NLM or the NIH. Retrieved 30 July 2026.