Enrichment · Wellbeing

Care for them.
Count your own hours too.

Caregivers are good at tracking someone else’s medicines and appointments and bad at noticing their own week. Log the hours of care and the hours of break, check in on sleep and stress, and see when it is time to ask for more help.

Check in this weekWhat you get

Your weekly check-ins

The worked example is made up: a daughter caring for her mother after a stroke, 28 hours this week with no break. Saved on this device only, so it stays private to you.

Loading the week form. If nothing appears, turn on JavaScript.

What you get

Enrichment · WellbeingFree

What you finish with
A weekly check-in: who you care for, hours of care, your sleep and stress, warning signs in yourself, every break with who covered and for how long, one thing to ask for and six basics. Totals care and breaks across weeks; flags high stress with 988, hopelessness, long weeks with no respite and where it comes from, short sleep and skipped appointments of your own.
Who it is for
Family caregivers of an aging parent, a spouse, a child with a disability or a relative who is ill, including teens helping at home.
Format
Browser check-in with a saved record per week. Prints a week to bring to your own doctor or a family meeting, every week in a table or a blank check-in; downloads a spreadsheet (.csv); exports and imports a file. Kept private on your device.
Access
Free. No account, no sign-in and nothing to install. Everything you type stays in this browser; nothing is sent to Caveat.
Where it lives
The Wellbeing space in Caveat Enrichment.
Support
Questions about access, an order or a correction: team@caveatacademic.com.

How to use it

  1. Count this week’s hours of care honestly.
  2. Log every break and who covered it.
  3. Rate your stress and notice the signs.
  4. Write one specific thing to ask someone for.
  5. Look at the weeks together before you say yes to more.

Check in this week

Where breaks come from

Where caregivers find a breakFamily and friendsA standing weekly shiftOne task taken over forgood: meds, bills, ridesCommunityAdult day programsArea Agency on Agingrespite and mealsFaith and volunteergroupsPaid and plannedHome care aides by thehourShort respite stays inassisted livingBenefits throughMedicaid or the VAWhere caregivers find a breakFamily and friendsA standing weekly shiftOne task taken over for good: meds, bills,ridesCommunityAdult day programsArea Agency on Aging respite and mealsFaith and volunteer groupsPaid and plannedHome care aides by the hourShort respite stays in assisted livingBenefits through Medicaid or the VA
Caregivers who get regular breaks keep going longer and stay healthier. A break is part of the care plan, not time taken from it.

Signs to take seriously

Constant exhaustion, a short temper, dropping your own friends and appointments, and feeling hopeless are common in caregivers and are signs the load is too heavy. They are reasons to talk to your own doctor and to change the plan, not a failure.

Asking specifically

“Let me know if you need anything” rarely turns into help. A specific ask, one task, one day, one time, is far easier to say yes to. Keep a short list ready for when someone offers.

Sources

  1. 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. Call, text or chat 988 (988lifeline.org).
  2. Administration for Community Living. National Family Caregiver Support Program and the Eldercare Locator, 1-800-677-1116 (acl.gov).
  3. AARP and National Alliance for Caregiving. (2020). Caregiving in the U.S.
  4. Family Caregiver Alliance. Taking care of you: self-care for family caregivers (caregiver.org).

The worked examples are made up. This page is for noticing and planning; it is not counseling, a diagnosis or a crisis service. If you might not be safe, call or text 988 or call 911. Nothing you type is sent to Caveat. Support: team@caveatacademic.com.