Family and Caregivers

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), caregivers provide care to people who need some degree of ongoing assistance with everyday tasks on a regular or daily basis. For many people, providing care for a family member with a chronic illness or a disabling condition can provide a sense of fulfillment, establishment of extended social networks or friendship groups associated with caregiving, and feeling needed and useful.

Informal or unpaid caregiving has also been associated with elevated levels of depression and anxiety, higher use of psychoactive medications, worse self-reported physical health, compromised immune function and increased risk of early death. Because of this, it is important that caregivers are given support and resources to care for themselves as well as their family member.