Resources for caregivers
Caring for a family member or friend may feel overwhelming at times. Having more information about caregiving and tools to help you stay organized may help you feel more confident to help meet each day’s demands.
What is a caregiver?
Every care situation is different – and so is every caregiver. You may be providing caregiver services for a close friend, family member, or someone else you feel responsible to help. Maybe caregiving was something you’ve expected would be needed for quite a while, or maybe it came as a surprise.
A caregiver may be a family member, friend or neighbor. It’s generally a person who provides unpaid assistance with activities of daily living and sometimes medical tasks, too. Whether you’re a new caregiver or have been caregiving for a while, there are many resources to help you get the support you need.
Try the care organizer and care guides
You can use the Care Organizer to help keep track of your caregiving information. It can help you gather important details in one place — from lists of providers and medications to home and financial information.
Self-care for caregivers
Being a caregiver may feel like a lot of responsibility. It’s natural to feel stressed or burdened at times. When you take care of someone else, caring for your own health and well-being can be equally important as your other tasks.
Caregiver support resources are available to help you learn how to balance the demands of your role as a caregiver while taking time for yourself. This information may help you:
- Better understand the responsibilities of caregiving and your options for assistance
- Consider when it might be time to hire a professional in-home caregiver
- Balance your caregiving duties with self-care — taking care of yourself is critical
- Keep caregiving details and paperwork, such as prescriptions and appointments, organized and easier to navigate
- Communicate better with your loved one and their family
Leaning on this support may help you manage caregiver strain and feel more confident and able to keep up with caregiving.
Browse our library of resources for caregiver support and self-care
Find caregiving resources for managing medical care
You may have medical questions and issues that come up as you’re caregiving. Whether you’re making health care appointments, dealing with a potential hospitalization or coordinating home care needs, you can find caregiving resources to help, including care guides for specific health care needs.
Connect with organizations for caregiver resources
Find caregiver resources and programs available through both national and local organizations. These resources include caregiver support groups and events, home care services, respite care, adult day centers, geriatric case managers and more.
Financial, legal and health insurance resources for caregivers
Many caregivers help the person they’re caring for with financial, legal and health insurance matters. Maybe you’ll help someone with signing up for Medicare, Medicaid or other health insurance. In that case, you may need to learn about how each insurance works. For other situations, there may be a lot of paperwork and authorizations to complete before you can help with some of the more complex issues, like Advance care planning. This type of planning can help you prepare for taking care of someone’s needs as a caregiver.
Can caregivers get support through insurance?
If the person you’re caring for has UnitedHealthcare insurance, there are a variety of programs to help support caregivers.
- Medicare Made Clear offers explanations and guidance on how Medicare works and what’s covered
- Just Plain Clear® glossary includes thousands of health care terms defined in plain, clear language to help you make informed decisions
- Pharmacy Locator helps Medicare members find convenient pharmacy locations across the country — and with some plans, you can also choose home mail delivery
- Drug Cost Estimator helps Medicare members estimate drug costs