American Stroke Foundation

This presentation covers ways to recognize and prevent caregiver burnout, along with resources that caregivers can utilize to prevent burnout and assist in the caregiving process to increase their quality of life, mental health, and overall well-being.

Caregiver burnout is a state of physical, emotional, and mental exhaustion as a result of caregiving tasks and demands.

The literature has found that role confusion, conflicting demands, unrealistic expectations and workload, lack of control, unreasonable demands, lack of autonomy, and lack of mastery are all contributors to caregiver burnout.

Research has found that lack of energy, insomnia, severe weight loss or gain, losing interest in valued activates, neglecting your own emotional and physical needs, anxiety, feelings of hopelessness, feeling irritable, weakened immune system, and withdrawing from the world are all signs and symptoms of caregiver burnout.

Asking for help, taking breaks, taking care of yourself, meditation, praying, stretching for 10-15 minutes a day, attending support groups, and considering respite care are all options to prevent caregiver burnout that have been cited in the literature.

There are many resources for caregiver to combat caregiver burnout such as respite care options from The Arch National Respite Network and Resource Center, caring.com, and Well Spouse Association. Support groups are also great options that can be found on the stroke support group finder at the American Stroke Association website, as well as many online forums and Facebook groups. Guided meditation videos that can be found as AARP’s website are also great options to prevent caregiver burnout.