Caring for the Carer: Honoring Family Caregivers in November and Beyond

Each November, as autumn settles in and families gather in gratitude, a quieter observance takes place across the United States — National Family Caregivers Month. This annual recognition shines a long-overdue light on the millions whose dedicated hands and patient hearts ensure that loved ones with illness, disability, or frailty can still find comfort and dignity at home. Yet, it is more than a time for celebration or thanks. It is a call to action, compassion, and a deeper understanding of the burdens shouldered by caregivers — especially parents — for whom responsibility shapes every hour of their lives.

The Brief History and Significance of National Family Caregivers Month

National Family Caregivers Month began as the vision of the Caregiver Action Network (formerly the National Family Caregivers Association) in 1994, when advocacy for unpaid caregivers was only beginning to gain national traction. In 1997, President Bill Clinton issued the first official Presidential Proclamation, and every president since has continued the tradition. The month was chosen to coincide with Thanksgiving, traditionally considered a time for family and gratitude, to underscore both the importance of caregivers’ contributions and the need for national observance and support.

What started as a weeklong campaign is now a month full of events, outreach, and education, coordinated each year with a unique theme. In 2025, the theme “Plug-in to Care” emphasizes connection — to resources, support networks, and essential educational tools. At its core, National Family Caregivers Month urges us all to raise awareness of caregivers’ realities, educate communities, and inspire concrete action.

Why We Must Honor Caregivers

Family caregivers are the silent engines powering much of America’s healthcare system. Over 63 million Americans provide unpaid long-term care or medical support to loved ones in need — ranging from aging parents to children with chronic or terminal illness, to spouses, partners, and friends. Most care is provided at home, away from public view and without financial compensation, often requiring a caregiver to step back from employment, reduce work hours, or abandon personal ambitions to meet the needs of another.

Honoring this self-sacrifice isn’t simply a matter of gratitude, it’s a matter of justice. Caregivers save the nation billions of dollars in healthcare costs each year, and their wellbeing is directly tied to the wellbeing of those they serve. Recognition invites empathy and breaks the stigma and isolation so many caregivers experience. The month-long observance serves both as a thank you and an urgent plea for systemic change and personal attention to those who offer so much for so little in return.

The Challenges of Caregiving

The Universal Strain

The caregiving journey is seldom chosen. It arrives with a diagnosis, a fall, or a sudden health crisis. What follows is a maze of appointments, medications, paperwork, and sleepless nights. Many caregivers juggle work, parenting, and their own health, leading to chronic physical exhaustion. The sustained stress of caregiving correlates to increased rates of anxiety, depression, cardiac risk, lowered immunity, and even early mortality.

For Parents: Caring for a Chronically or Terminally Ill Child

Perhaps the most profound burdens are borne by parents caring for an unwell child, especially those with rare, chronic, or terminal illnesses. These caregivers face:

• Lack of access to quality, specialized healthcare for complex or rare diseases.

• Constant advocacy for accurate diagnoses and effective treatment regimens.

• Financial hardship from incomplete insurance coverage, job interruption, and medical expenses.

• Profound emotional strain: anxiety, depression, guilt, helplessness, isolation, and grief — even while their child is still alive.

• Physical exhaustion from juggling care routines, medication schedules, therapies, and regular life.

  
  

Family relationships can be affected, with the needs of siblings and partners often sidelined, creating guilt and tension in the home. The disruption to social and professional life can lead to feelings of invisibility and misunderstanding within their broader communities. The pain of watching a child struggle with pain, breathlessness, or developmental limitation is an agony few can understand.

Airway Health: A Special Burden

For families and caregivers supporting someone with airway-related illness — be it pediatric sleep-disordered breathing, craniofacial anomalies, chronic respiratory disease, or terminal airway complications — the demands can be especially overwhelming. Airway health disorders often require:

• Vigilant monitoring for breathing difficulties, infections, or sleep-related events.

• Mastery of medical devices (like CPAP machines, oxygen tanks, airway clearance tools, suctioning devices).

• Navigating a care network that may include pulmonologists, sleep specialists, respiratory therapists, and home nursing.

• Emotional labor: managing not just the patient’s physical health, but helping them cope with fear, frustration, and social isolation.

  
  

This form of caregiving often includes sleepless nights spent listening for breath sounds, assisting with airway clearance, or responding to oxygen alarms. Parents of children with complex airway needs must become overnight experts, advocates, and medical coordinators — all while worrying about the future, mourning the loss of  “normal,” and struggling to maintain their own energy.

How We Can Support Family Caregivers

As a Community

Supporting the caregiver is everyone’s responsibility. A few meaningful ways to do so are:

• Offer regular respite care: Even an hour for errands or a full day for rest can be transformative for caregivers.

• Listen and validate: Acknowledge caregivers’ experiences, let them share their stories, and refrain from judgment or unsolicited advice.

• Connect caregivers to local or online support groups where they can meet others with similar journeys and access resources.

• Help with daily chores — cleaning, groceries, childcare, yardwork — without needing to be asked.

• Advocate for workplace flexibility, caregiver leave, and inclusion in employment policies.

• Give thoughtful, practical gifts — meals, self-care items, or even a simple thank-you note.

• Let caregivers know about disease-specific resources, mental health services, and financial aid programs.

  
  

For Caregivers Themselves

Caring for yourself is not selfish — it’s an act of love for both you and your loved one. Tips for self-care:

• Accept help: Make lists of tasks others can do and accept offers without guilt.

• Stay connected: Join a support group or connect with friends who understand your unique stresses.

• Attend to your own health: Prioritize sleep, nutrition, and your own medical needs, even if it feels difficult to do so.

• Learn: Take advantage of available training in medical tasks, device management, or symptom monitoring. Knowledge builds confidence.

• Set boundaries: It’s okay to say no to non-essential commitments and protect your mental and emotional resources.

• Watch for burnout: If feelings of exhaustion or despair grow, reach out for help — whether mental health professionals, spiritual guides, or medical providers.

  
  

For caregivers of airway-compromised patients specifically:

• Seek training on airway devices, breathing exercises, and emergency skills (like basic life support).

• Communicate openly with medical teams. Never hesitate to ask questions or request demonstrations of equipment or procedures.

• Keep emergency numbers and backup equipment ready at all times.

• Prioritize infection prevention: hand-washing, immunizations, and vigilance, since respiratory illness can materially affect your loved one’s health.

• Plan for respite care from specialized providers if your loved one needs complex airway support, so you can take restorative breaks.

  
  

Finding Meaning and Hope

Despite the hardships, many caregivers (especially parents) find deep meaning in their role. They build fierce advocacy skills, learn more about medical care than they ever imagined, and witness daily courage and resilience in the person they love. The bond formed in moments of vulnerability is profound and enduring.

Organizations, advocacy groups, and communities can amplify hope by celebrating caregivers not just in November but every day, ensuring that help, understanding, and real resources are always within reach.

A Plea for Compassion and Visibility

If you are reading this and are not a caregiver, look around. Chances are, someone in your extended family, workplace, or social network is quietly performing the daily miracle of care. They may not ask for help, recognition, or thanks, but they need all three more than you know.

Let this National Family Caregivers Month be not only a time to speak their names, but to see their faces, recognize their hardships, and commit to walking beside them — through advocacy, empathy, and community support.

And, to every family caregiver… You are seen, valued, and honored. Your sacrifices are the fabric of our most fundamental relationships. May our gratitude this November become action — a promise to care for you, the carer, as deeply as you care for those you love. You are not alone. Our community, our healthcare system, and our hearts depend on you, and you deserve every ounce of compassion we can give.

Caring for Caregivers: How Small Shifts in Self-Care and Communication Can Transform the Caregiver Journey

Take time to consider Francis Lewis’s moving TEDxSnoIsleLibraries talk, “Caring for the Caregivers.” In this compassionate and research-based presentation, Professor Lewis shares critical insights from decades of work with families impacted by serious illness, debunking common myths about caregiving and offering practical, evidence-backed strategies to support both the caregiver and their loved one. Her message not only highlights the emotional and physical toll on those who provide care, but also empowers caregivers with simple, proven tools to foster resilience, connection, and healing as they navigate their own journeys