Welcome to your self-guided caregiver education journey—a flexible, supportive resource designed for caregivers of all kinds and experience levels. Whether you’re new to caregiving or have years of experience, this guide offers tools and information tailored to where you are in your journey. To help you make the most of your learning, note-taking templates are provided so you can choose the style that works best for you. You’ll also find a curated selection of videos and podcasts to deepen your understanding, offer practical tips, and provide encouragement along the way. Take your time, explore the resources, and remember—you’re not alone in this.
The Cornell Notes system is a structured method of note-taking that improves comprehension and retention by organizing information into clear sections. It divides the page into three parts: a note-taking area, a cue column for questions or keywords, and a summary section at the bottom. This layout encourages active learning, reflection, and easier review for exams or assignments.
A KWL chart is a simple learning tool that helps organize knowledge before, during, and after a lesson. It has three columns: K for what you already Know, W for what you Want to know, and L for what you have Learned. This format encourages curiosity, goal-setting, and reflection throughout the learning process.
Mind maps are visual diagrams that organize information around a central idea using branches for related topics and subtopics. They help learners see connections, structure complex information, and boost creativity and memory. By using colors, images, and keywords, mind maps make learning more engaging and easier to recall.
Caregiver Action Network (CAN) The nation’s leading family caregiver organization is working to improve the quality of life for the more than 90 million Americans who care for loved ones with chronic conditions, disabilities, disease, or the frailties of old age.
National Transitions of Care Coalition NTOCC has brought together industry leaders who have created resources to help you better understand transitional challenges and empower you as part of the caregiving team.
National Alliance for Caregiving – General Caregiving The National Alliance for Caregiving partners with other caregiving associations and groups to provide additional resources to help family caregivers address and cope with the challenges of caring for a loved one.
Apps for Managing Caregiving Responsibilities
CaringBridge: This app for caregivers provides a centralized and secure platform for caregivers to update family and friends on the older adult’s health condition, progress, and specific needs. Caregivers can create journal entries, share medical updates, and receive supportive messages from loved ones, fostering a sense of connection and support during the caregiving journey.
eCare21: This caregiving app empowers caregivers with remote patient monitoring capabilities. It enables them to track vital signs, monitor medication adherence, and receive alerts for any concerning changes in the older adult’s health condition. This real-time information helps caregivers stay proactive and address potential issues promptly.
Symple: Designed as a comprehensive health journal app, Symple allows caregivers to track and record various aspects of the older adult’s health. From symptoms and medications to overall well-being, caregivers can gather valuable information to share with healthcare professionals, facilitating more accurate diagnoses and informed treatment plans.
CareZone: CareZone is a handy app that helps caregivers organize various aspects of caregiving. It simplifies medication management by tracking schedules, dosages, and refills. It also provides a platform for creating to-do lists, storing important documents like medical records, and sharing care updates with family members (helping to navigate family conflict), ensuring everyone is on the same page.
Apps for Monitoring Health
Connected Caregiver: This helpful app enables family members to work with other caregivers to share updates, manage tasks, and coordinate carewith family members and healthcare professionals, promoting seamless communication and effective care management.
Medisafe: A comprehensive medication management app that provides medication reminders, tracks adherence, and offers drug interaction warnings.
Welltory Heart Rate Monitor: Offers a stress and energy management app, providing insights into well-being, heart rate, sleep quality, and stress levels.
WebMD: Offers a symptom checker, medication information, and health advice to assist in managing an older adult’s health conditions.
iBP Blood Pressure: One of the best apps to help track and manage blood pressure readings, allowing caregivers to monitor trends and share data with healthcare providers.
Apps to Manage Household & Family Organization
Grocery Gadget: Simplifies grocery shopping by creating and sharing lists with family members, allowing for efficient meal planning and shopping coordination.
RxSaver: This useful (and free) app helps caregivers and older adults save money on prescription medications by providing discounts, coupons, and price comparisons at nearby pharmacies.
iUber Health: Ok, so technically this isn’t an app, but this new feature from Uber provides reliable and easy transportation for medical appointments, ensuring your loved ones get to their check-ups on time without any stress.
Communicating with Healthcare Providers
Age-Friendly Care – John A. Hartford Foundation Older adults and family caregivers can learn more about what age-friendly care is and how they can ask for it from their health care providers. The page is also available in Spanish.
Offers a guide that teaches older adults and caregivers how to request and understand age-friendly care, in English and Spanish.
My Health Care Checklist (Institute for Healthcare Improvement) A guide for older adults and caregivers to talk to their health care providers about the essential elements of age-friendly care known as the 4Ms. The guide is also available in Spanish, Portuguese, and Chinese
Family Caregiver Alliance Provides communication tips and printable care notebooks to help track interactions and coordinate care.
Prepare to Care – AARP Contains templates and checklists for planning care and healthcare conversations.
Caregiver CaliforniaCareNav™ A secure online portal offering personalized resources and support to help families navigate caregiving challenges, including communication with healthcare professionals. types of dementia. Powerful tools for Caregivers class; Online Toolkit to Help Practitioners Assess the Needs of Family Caregivers
Chronic Illnesses & Disabilities Caregiving
Family Caregiver Alliance – Disease Specific Resources Educational resources on Parkinson’s, dementia, stroke, etc.
NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) The nation’s largest grassroots mental health organization dedicated to building better lives for the millions of Americans affected by mental illness.
Best Programs for Caregiving (Benjamin Rose Institute & FCA) Online directory of proven programs that support family caregivers of people living with dementia. This first-of-its-kind directory for both professional organizations and family caregivers details nearly 50 top-rated dementia support programs, including local availability, program outcomes, and enrollment information.
Next Step in Care Next Step in Care provides easy-to-use guides to help family caregivers and health care providers work closely together to plan and implement safe and smooth transitions for chronically or seriously ill patients.
Apps for Dementia Caregivers
It’s Done: This app serves as a digital checklist for caregivers and those they care for. It helps keep track of everyday tasks, loved one’s medications, appointment reminders and more, thus ensuring nothing essential gets missed in daily routines.
My House of Memories: This innovative app offers those living with dementia – and their caregivers – a way to look back at various memorabilia and moments from the past, aiding recall and promoting enjoyable, meaningful interaction.
Dementia Caregiver Solutions:This handy app provides expert advice and solutions for those caring for dementia patients, helping them effectively handle everyday challenges, manage symptoms, and improve their loved ones’ quality of life.
Parent to Parent USA Supports a national network of Parent-to-Parent programs to ensure access to quality emotional support for families of individuals with disabilities and/or special health care needs.
American Association of Caregiving Youth Serves children and adolescents who provide significant or substantial assistance, often on a regular basis, to relatives or household members needing help because of a physical or mental illness, disability, or frailty.
HealthyChildren.org (American Academy of Pediatrics) Developmental milestones, nutrition, and safety tips for pediatric caregiving. details nearly 50 top-rated dementia support programs, including local availability, program outcomes, and enrollment information.
Family Caregiver Alliance – Pediatric Resources Offers articles on systems of care and home health for children.
Family Voices Family Voices is a national, family-led organization that advocates for quality health care and provides support to families of children and youth with special health care needs and disabilities.
American Academy of Pediatrics The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) is a professional organization of pediatricians committed to the optimal physical, mental, and social health and well-being of all infants, children, adolescents, and young adults.
Senior Caregiving
National Institute on Aging (NIA) Leads a broad scientific effort to understand the nature of aging and to extend the healthy, active years of life.
PACE Finder (National PACE Association) Programs of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) coordinate and provide all needed preventive, primary, acute and long-term care services so older adults can continue living in the community rather than in a nursing home. Use the PACEFinder to find a PACE program in your neighborhood. The page is also available in Spanish. Resource that locates Programs of All-Inclusive Elderly Care, designed to help older adults live at home longer.
SCAN Foundation Advocates for senior independence through policy and care integration.
PREPARE Advance Directive PREPARE for Your Care offers a user-friendly, legally valid advance directive tailored to each U.S. state. This free resource empowers individuals to document their healthcare preferences and designate a medical decision-maker in case they become unable to speak for themselves.
Cake Cake is a digital platform that helps individuals and families navigate end-of-life planning by providing tools, resources, and guidance for creating wills, advance directives, funeral plans, and other important documents to ensure wishes are clearly communicated and honored.End of Life Plan and ChecklistWhat to Know About Advance Care Planning: FAQs + Resources
National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization The National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) is committed to improving end-of-life care and expanding access to hospice care with the goal of profoundly enhancing quality of life for people dying in America and their loved ones. NHPCO collaborates with other end-of-life organizations.
The Conversation Project The Conversation Project® is a public engagement initiative of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI). Aimed at helping everyone talk about their wishes for care through the end of life, so those wishes can be understood and respected.
Hospice Foundation of America Provides programs and resources for professional development, public education, research funding, and information on hospice, palliative care, caregiving, and grief.
DeathWise DeathWise is a nonprofit organization passionately committed to helping people talk about, make decisions and plan for the end of their lives.
National Center for Medical-Legal PartnershipThe National Center for Medical-Legal Partnership is helping to build an integrated health care ecosystem that is better equipped to improve individual and population health by addressing health-harming legal needs.
American Bankers Association Financial Caregiving and You Guide – “Money management can be a difficult topic to discuss, but it is a critical conversation to have with your loved ones as life circumstances change due to aging, disability, illness or other factors. You can protect your financial future by identifying a financial caregiver to help manage your finances before you require assistance.”
Financial Management and ResourcesAARP Family Caregiving – Financial Section Financial Tools – Articles, calculators, and planning guides on managing care-related
Charles Schwaab – Financial Caregiving 101 “As we get older, many of us realize we need some extra help in our daily lives. And whether that means a helping hand at the grocery store, someone to take us to appointments, or at-home personal care, having outside assistance can greatly improve our comfort and quality of life. ”
WISER (Women’s Institute for a Secure Retirement) Financial Steps for Caregivers: What You Need to Know About Money and Retirement is designed to help you identify financial decisions you may face as a caregiver.
National Family Caregiver Support Program The National Family Caregiver Support Program (NFCSP), established in 2000, provides grants to States and Territories,based on their share of the population aged 70 and over, to fund a range of supports that assist family and informal caregivers to care for their loved ones at home for as long aspossible.
Eldercare Locator The Eldercare Locator, a public service of theU.S. Administration on Aging, is the first step to finding resources for older adults in any U.S. community. Just one phone call or Website visit provides an instant connection to resources that enable older persons to live independently in their communities.
Lotsa Helping Hands Lotsa Helping Hands is a free caregiving coordination web service that provides a private, group calendar where tasks for which a caregiver needs assistance can be posted. Family and friends may visit the site and sign up online for a task.
Caring.com Caring.com is the leading online destination for family caregivers seeking information and support as they care for aging parents, spouses, and other loved ones.
What’s your Grief? You don’t have to grieve alone. What’s Your Grief is a place for sharing, support, resources, & more.”
ARCH National Respite Network ARCH assists and promotes the development of quality respite and crisis care programs, helps families locate respite and crisis care services, and serves as a strong voice for respite in all forums.
The Importance of Self-Care
Family Caregiver Alliance – Caregiver Health Articles and tip sheets on mental health, stress, and caregiver survival strategies.
Daughterhood Circles Join a Circle – Local and virtual support circles for women managing caregiving stress.
Prepare to Care – AARP Guidebook – Includes emotional and self-care considerations in its planning templates.
Moving Forward Coalition – Caregiver Inclusion Resources to improve caregiver engagement in care settings and reduce isolation.
Lumosity Offers brain-training exercises and games to promote cognitive health and keep older adults mentally sharp.
SilverSneakers GO Offers workout routines and fitness challenges for older adults, promoting an active lifestyle.
TED Managing mental health means continued engagement, and the TED app provides access to a vast library of inspiring talks and educational videos on a wide range of topics to encourage lifelong learning.
Ianacare This caregiving app is designed to coordinate and manage the responsibilities of caregiving, by creating a supportive network that helps share tasks, updates, and important information amongst family, friends and neighbors.
Happify This digital self-care app provides science-backed activities and games that aim to reduce stress and improve overall emotional well-being, making it a valuable tool for caregivers managing their own mental health.
Caregiving, a new documentary created with executive producer Bradley Cooper, highlights the challenges and triumphs of caregiving in America. Award-winning actress Uzo Aduba (The Residence, Painkiller, Orange is the New Black) narrates the film, bringing her own experience as a caregiver for her mother to the project. Stream nowon WellBeings.org, the PBS App and PBS.org.
The two-hour documentary is centered on the personal experiences of caregivers providing for loved ones, and the challenges and triumph they face each day. As the number of caregivers declines, and the number of individuals requiring care in our country increases, the challenges grow. Caregivers require differing types and levels of support. At times, the burdens of caregiving can seem unbearable, regardless of resources. The “needs gap” for information may be greater for caregivers than it is for care recipients. The film will explore these issues and shine a light on innovation for 21st century caregiving.
WellBeings.org is a health and wellness resource, not a crisis or suicide response website. If you are in crisis, or experiencing thoughts of suicide, please call or text the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 or the LGBT National Hotline at (888) 843-4564. The service is free and available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
