Caregiving can begin for many different reasons. You may be helping a spouse with dementia, supporting an aging parent who can no longer live independently, caring for a family member with a chronic illness or disability, or assisting someone recovering from a serious medical event.
Whatever brought you into this role, caregiving often grows far beyond hands-on care. It can quickly include medical appointments, medications, transportation, household responsibilities, insurance, paperwork, safety planning, benefits, family communication, and the ongoing question of what happens if you can no longer manage everything on your own.
This page was created to make finding help easier. Instead of sorting through endless links and trying to determine which resources are trustworthy, you will find organized caregiver support resources, practical tools, and planning materials based on the type of help you may need.
Some resources are specifically designed for dementia caregivers and are clearly identified. Others are useful for family caregivers supporting older adults, people with disabilities, individuals with chronic illnesses, or loved ones recovering from major health events.

A free public service of the U.S. Administration for Community Living that connects older adults and caregivers with local programs and services. Users can search for caregiving support, dementia caregiver assistance, and other resources for caregivers to help with in-home care, transportation, meals, housing, benefits, legal assistance, and various aging-related needs in communities across the United States. Visit eldercare.acl.gov and simply enter your ZIP code to get started.
CareNav® is a free, secure tool from the Family Caregiver Alliance that helps family caregivers make sense of available services and resources. After answering a few questions, caregivers receive a personalized dashboard with information tailored to their situation, including educational materials, local resources, and guidance for navigating the caregiving journey.
As part of the National Institutes of Health, the NIA offers trustworthy, research-based information on Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias. It serves as a valuable resource for caregivers, providing caregiving support, dementia caregiver assistance, and insights on brain health, aging in place, long-term care, and healthy aging. The articles and practical guides available can help caregivers understand the evolving needs of those they care for and make informed care decisions. For more resources for caregivers, visit https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/alzheimers-and-dementia.
CAN offers vital caregiving support by providing free education, practical tools, and peer support for family caregivers. This assistance is especially beneficial for those caring for loved ones with Alzheimer’s disease, chronic illnesses, disabilities, and various other health conditions. Among its extensive resources for caregivers, you will find caregiver checklists, condition-specific information, self-care guidance, webinars, and tools designed to help navigate medical, legal, and financial concerns. To learn more about dementia caregiver assistance and explore these valuable resources, visit the Caregiver Action Network.
Sometimes information alone isn’t enough—you need something that helps you organize the problem, prepare for what comes next, or take a practical next step.
Below are some free Missing Option tools that we've designed to help caregivers do exactly that. Choose only the resource that matches the problem you’re trying to solve.
A 9-page printable guide for caregivers who keep asking, “Why can’t I get a break?” Instead of starting with generic respite advice, it helps you identify the specific barrier blocking relief, sort the caregiving workload into smaller pieces, ask better questions, and decide what can realistically be handed off. It includes the 5 Types of Caregiver Relief, a barrier finder, a 7-day caregiving load audit, a better-questions cheat sheet, a Care Admin Captain hand-off, and a simple 7-day action plan to help you create one practical opening at a time.
A 29-page caregiver handoff tool designed to give another caregiver the information they actually need for day-to-day support—without handing over the family’s entire private record. It helps organize current routines, communication preferences, personal care, eating and swallowing needs, mobility and fall precautions, medication and health information, distress patterns, safety risks, helper responsibilities, and shift handoff notes. It also includes a one-page Quick Helper Brief for sharing the essentials at a glance and guidance for keeping the information current, role-specific, and appropriately private.
A 38-page caregiver emergency-planning tool designed to help families prepare for the first 24–72 hours if the primary caregiver is suddenly hospitalized, injured, delayed, unreachable, or otherwise unable to provide care. It helps identify who steps in first, what critical information they need, how to access the home and essential records, what safety risks matter most, and what to do in situations involving hospitalization, wandering, severe weather, evacuation, or a canceled helper. It also includes medication and health-information locators, a quick care handoff, a go-bag checklist, backup-readiness tools, and a 10-minute practice drill to uncover gaps before an emergency happens.
A 30-page caregiver tool designed to help offload the exhausting administrative side of caregiving—research, phone calls, applications, insurance questions, provider searches, waitlists, paperwork, and follow-up. It helps a trusted helper take ownership of a clearly defined administrative job while protecting appropriate privacy and decision-making boundaries. The kit includes a role agreement, research planner, call scripts, comparison worksheets, application and document trackers, follow-up tools, and a concise Results Brief so the caregiver gets answers and next steps—not just another list of links.
When the person receiving caregiving support resists unfamiliar helpers, simply arranging respite may not resolve the issue. This step-by-step starter plan offers families a way to gradually introduce new helper options, fostering familiarity and trust. By leveraging dementia caregiver assistance, families can work toward respite without forcing an abrupt transition, ensuring they have the right resources for caregivers.
A free 28-page plain-language guide designed to help older Veterans, surviving spouses, and family caregivers understand which VA benefit or service path may fit their situation. It explains Veterans Pension, Aid & Attendance, Housebound benefits, survivor benefits, caregiver support, respite, in-home care, and other VA services, while helping families identify the right questions to ask and the evidence they may need.
The guide also includes practical checklists, an action plan, and a VA call/application log to help families organize next steps and keep track of contacts, forms, and follow-up dates.
Sometimes a caregiving problem is too complicated for a short worksheet or starter guide.
Below, you will find more comprehensive Missing Option tools which have been designed to help families work through larger, interconnected challenges step by step.
A 34-page barrier-first planning workbook for caregivers who need relief but keep finding that traditional respite advice does not fit their situation. The Blueprint helps you identify which of 11 common barriers—including cost, geography, transportation, refusal of outsiders, trust, lack of family support, caregiver health, employment demands, bureaucracy, high-risk care needs, and provider shortages—is actually blocking relief. It then points you toward the most realistic relief paths, helps you prioritize stacked barriers, and guides you through creating a practical 72-hour, 7-day, and 30-day action plan.
A 32-page practical planning workbook for caregivers who cannot rely on one person—or one traditional respite solution—to provide all the help they need. The Care Mosaic helps you break the caregiving workload into smaller, manageable “tiles,” decide what can safely be transferred, match each responsibility to the right person, service, or system, and build backup so everything no longer depends on you. It includes workload-mapping worksheets, helper-matching tools, scripts for making specific requests, safety and risk filters, reliability and contingency planning, stress tests, and a 30-day build plan for turning scattered help into a more dependable support system.
A 44-page comprehensive planning workbook for family caregivers who want a real backup system in place before an emergency happens. The Care Continuity Plan helps you prepare for what happens if the primary caregiver is suddenly hospitalized, injured, unreachable, or otherwise unable to continue managing care. It guides you through 24-hour and 72-hour continuity planning, essential care information, legal authority and access, backup roles, hospitalization and discharge, household needs, emergency and disaster planning, temporary care arrangements, longer absences, stress tests, and a 30-day build plan—plus quick-use emergency pages designed to help another person step in without having to reconstruct the entire care system during a crisis.
A 199-page guided life-story and caregiving workbook designed to help families preserve the memories, experiences, relationships, values, personality, and personal history that make someone who they are. The Memory Keeper includes 380+ guided questions and prompts covering childhood, education, relationships, career, major life events, hobbies, beliefs, challenges, humor, wisdom, and legacy—then goes further with dedicated sections for documenting daily routines, personal-care preferences, health history, medications, healthcare contacts, insurance information, emergency contacts, important documents, and other details that may become valuable as a loved one grows older or care needs change. It can be completed gradually as a family keepsake, used to guide meaningful conversations or a video life-story project, and maintained as a practical master reference for future caregivers.
A free public service of the U.S. Administration for Community Living that connects older adults and caregivers with local programs and services. Users can search for caregiving support, dementia caregiver assistance, and other resources for caregivers to help with in-home care, transportation, meals, housing, benefits, legal assistance, and various aging-related needs in communities across the United States. Visit eldercare.acl.gov and simply enter your ZIP code to get started.
Helps family caregivers search for respite programs, providers, and possible funding resources in their area. The locator serves caregivers supporting people of different ages and with a wide range of disabilities, chronic conditions, and care needs.
Visit the ARCH National Respite Locator Service
CareNav® is a free, secure tool from the Family Caregiver Alliance that helps family caregivers make sense of available services and resources. After answering a few questions, caregivers receive a personalized dashboard with information tailored to their situation, including educational materials, local resources, and guidance for navigating the caregiving journey.
Search for home-care providers by location and type of service, including private-duty and personal care, home health, Medicaid home- and community-based services, hospice, and palliative care.
Search the National Alliance Find a Provider Directory
Helps you find and compare Medicare-certified healthcare providers, including home health agencies, nursing homes, hospitals, hospice providers, and other services, using location, quality measures, and other available information. It can be especially useful when you need to evaluate care options rather than simply locate them.
Start your search at Medicare Care Compare
Provides education, caregiver guidance, support groups, a national helpline, memory-screening resources, webinars, and other services for families affected by Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. A good starting point for caregivers looking for reliable information and support.
Visit Alzheimer’s Foundation of America — Caregiver Resources
A major national resource for people living with Alzheimer’s or another dementia and the families who care for them. Find information about symptoms, diagnosis, treatment, caregiving, safety, local programs, education, research, and community support.
Visit the Alzheimer’s Association
Free, confidential help is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year at 800-272-3900. Trained staff can provide dementia information, emotional support, crisis assistance, care-planning guidance, and referrals to local services and programs. Assistance is available in more than 200 languages through bilingual staff and interpreters.
Visit Alzheimer’s Association 24/7 Helpline
Answer questions about your current situation and ALZNavigator creates a personalized action plan with relevant Alzheimer’s and dementia resources in one place. The plan can be saved, printed, shared, and updated as needs change.
Go to Create an ALZNavigator Action Plan
A trusted NIH resource explaining dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of brain change, along with symptoms, diagnosis, treatment, current research, and links to additional national resources.
Go to NINDS — Dementia
Teepa Snow and the Positive Approach to Care team teach practical, relationship-centered techniques for supporting people living with dementia and other forms of brain change. Resources focus on communication, remaining abilities, reducing distress, and adapting the caregiver’s approach to the person’s changing needs.
Visit Positive Approach to Care
Find virtual and in-person support groups for caregivers, people living with Alzheimer’s or another dementia, family members, and others affected by the disease. Groups are facilitated by trained individuals, with specialized groups available in many areas.
Go to Find an Alzheimer’s Association Support Group
An active online community where family caregivers can ask questions, share experiences, discuss difficult caregiving situations, and learn what has worked for others. Because responses come from community members, treat forum advice as peer experience rather than medical, legal, or financial guidance.
Visit the AgingCare Caregiver Forum
CaringBridge gives families a central place to share health updates, communicate with friends and relatives, coordinate support, and keep a community informed during an illness or caregiving journey—reducing the need to repeat the same updates individually.
Go to CaringBridge to learn more.
CareNav® is a free, secure tool from the Family Caregiver Alliance that helps family caregivers make sense of available services and resources. After answering a few questions, caregivers receive a personalized dashboard with information tailored to their situation, including educational materials, local resources, and guidance for navigating the caregiving journey.
A medication-management app that can help users track medications and complicated dosing schedules, receive medication and refill reminders, monitor missed doses, organize appointments and health measurements, and share medication information with healthcare providers. It also offers drug-interaction warnings for combinations that should be discussed with a healthcare professional.
Visit Medisafe Medication Reminder App
Older adults often take several prescriptions, over-the-counter medicines, vitamins, and supplements, increasing the possibility of side effects and interactions. This NIH resource explains how to keep an accurate medication list, avoid potentially harmful combinations, communicate with doctors and pharmacists, and manage multiple medications more safely.
Learn more at Taking Medicines Safely as You Age — NIA
An online care-coordination tool designed to make it easier for family, friends, neighbors, and volunteers to provide meaningful help. Caregiving communities can organize practical support and reduce the burden on one person trying to coordinate everyone individually.
Visit Lotsa Helping Hands
The CDC’s Check for Safety checklist walks through common fall hazards in stairs, floors, kitchens, bedrooms, and bathrooms and provides simple steps families can take to make a home safer for an older adult.
Go to CDC Check for Safety — Home Fall Prevention Checklist
A free, confidential tool that helps older adults and people with disabilities identify benefit programs they may qualify for based on their location and circumstances. Programs may help with healthcare, prescriptions, food, utilities, housing, transportation, and other everyday expenses.
Visit BenefitsCheckUp
The official federal Medicare website. Compare health and drug plans, search for healthcare providers, review coverage and costs, manage Medicare information, and find answers about Medicare benefits and enrollment.
Learn more at Medicare.gov
The official federal source for information about Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). Use it to understand Medicaid programs and policies and to reach state-specific information about coverage, eligibility, long-term services, and other Medicaid assistance.
Find out more at Medicaid.gov
The VA Caregiver Support Program offers education, training, coaching, peer support, self-care resources, referrals, and other assistance to caregivers of eligible Veterans. It includes the Program of General Caregiver Support Services (PGCSS) and the Program of Comprehensive Assistance for Family Caregivers (PCAFC), which has additional eligibility requirements and benefits.
Visit the VA Caregiver Support Program
Find the Caregiver Support Program team serving your local VA medical facility. Select your state to locate the appropriate VA caregiver-support contacts who can help connect eligible Veteran caregivers with VA programs, services, resources, and application guidance.
Go to Find Your VA Caregiver Support Team
The VA Caregiver Support Program offers education, training, coaching, peer support, self-care resources, referrals, and other assistance to caregivers of eligible Veterans. It includes the Program of General Caregiver Support Services (PGCSS) and the Program of Comprehensive Assistance for Family Caregivers (PCAFC), which has additional eligibility requirements and benefits.
Visit the VA Caregiver Support Program
Find the Caregiver Support Program team serving your local VA medical facility. Select your state to locate the appropriate VA caregiver-support contacts who can help connect eligible Veteran caregivers with VA programs, services, resources, and application guidance.
Go to Find Your VA Caregiver Support Team
A free 28-page plain-language guide designed to help older Veterans, surviving spouses, and family caregivers understand which VA benefit or service path may fit their situation. It explains Veterans Pension, Aid & Attendance, Housebound benefits, survivor benefits, caregiver support, respite, in-home care, and other VA services, while helping families identify the right questions to ask and the evidence they may need.
The guide also includes practical checklists, an action plan, and a VA call/application log to help families organize next steps and keep track of contacts, forms, and follow-up dates.
The resources below are divided into four sections because legal and advocacy needs can look very different depending on the situation.
Planning Ahead focuses on preparing legal and financial documents before a crisis.
Finding Legal Help points to resources for locating qualified attorneys and affordable legal assistance.
Advocacy in Long-Term Care focuses on protecting the rights and well-being of people receiving care in nursing homes, assisted living, and similar settings.
When Something Goes Wrong is for situations involving suspected neglect, abuse, exploitation, unsafe care, injury, or other serious problems that may require additional advocacy or legal guidance.
NAELA helps older adults, people with disabilities, and their families find attorneys who focus on elder law and special-needs planning. Its searchable directory can help locate lawyers experienced with issues such as estate planning, guardianship, government benefits, long-term care, healthcare decision-making, and veterans’ benefits.
Find an Elder Law Attorney through NAELA
The National Institute on Aging offers clear guidance for getting important healthcare, legal, and financial affairs in order before a crisis occurs. Resources cover advance directives, healthcare proxies, living wills, and practical checklists for organizing documents and communicating future care wishes.
Visit NIA Advance Care Planning Resources
The CFPB provides free, easy-to-understand guides for people managing money or property on behalf of someone else. Separate guides explain the responsibilities of agents under powers of attorney, guardians or conservators, trustees, and government-appointed fiduciaries, including the duty to act in the person’s best interest and keep careful records.
Go to CFPB — Managing Someone Else’s Money
Legal Services Corporation funds nonprofit legal-aid organizations throughout the United States that provide civil legal assistance to qualifying low-income individuals and families. Its search tool can help locate local legal-aid organizations for issues involving housing, benefits, family matters, consumer problems, and other civil legal needs.
Find Legal Aid through LSC
The ABA Commission on Law and Aging works to protect the rights, dignity, autonomy, and quality of life of older adults. Its consumer and professional resources address topics such as guardianship, decision-making capacity, elder abuse, healthcare decisions, advance planning, and legal rights as people age.
Visit the ABA Commission on Law and Aging
Long-Term Care Ombudsmen advocate for residents of nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and other residential long-term care settings. They can help residents and families understand their rights, address concerns about care or treatment, and work to resolve problems involving health, safety, welfare, or resident rights. Every state has an Ombudsman program.
Find Your Long-Term Care Ombudsman

If you’re worried that you or someone you care for may be experiencing neglect, abuse, exploitation, unsafe care, or injury, you don’t have to navigate it alone. This section explains how to recognize concerns, record what’s happening, make a complaint or report it, and find advocacy or legal guidance when additional help may be needed.
Adult Protective Services investigates reports of abuse, neglect, self-neglect, and financial exploitation involving older adults and adults with disabilities. APS programs are operated by state and local governments, so eligibility, reporting procedures, and the types of situations they investigate can vary by location. The national APS resource center can help you locate the appropriate program serving your area.
***If someone is in immediate danger, call 911 or local law enforcement rather than waiting for an APS response.***
State Survey Agencies work with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to monitor whether participating healthcare facilities meet federal health and safety requirements. If you have serious concerns about the quality of care or conditions in a nursing home, hospital, home health agency, hospice, or another covered facility, your State Survey Agency may be able to investigate the complaint.
Some caregiving problems go beyond finding services or filing a complaint and may require individual legal advice or representation. An attorney may be helpful when concerns involve guardianship, powers of attorney, financial exploitation, neglect or abuse, long-term-care disputes, access to records, decision-making authority, contracts, or protecting a vulnerable adult’s rights. Because the appropriate type of lawyer depends on the issue and laws vary by state, look for an attorney experienced in elder law, disability law, healthcare law, or the specific legal problem involved.
Nursing Home Law Center, LLC is a nationwide network of attorneys focused on cases involving nursing home abuse, neglect, serious injuries, and wrongful death. Families can request a free case evaluation to discuss possible legal options. The organization notes that it is an attorney network rather than a single law firm, and cases are handled by attorneys licensed in the appropriate jurisdiction.
Visit: Nursing Home Law Center, LLC
Ben Crump Law, PLLC is a nationally recognized civil rights and personal injury law firm known for handling high-profile cases involving negligence, wrongful death, and institutional accountability. The firm represents individuals and families affected by serious harm, including nursing home abuse, medical negligence, and unsafe conditions, while also providing caregiving support for those navigating these challenges. Focused on advocating for vulnerable populations who may need dementia caregiver assistance, they connect clients with essential resources for caregivers. With a broad geographic reach and extensive litigation experience, they serve as a starting point for families seeking legal guidance after a preventable injury or loss.
Feller & Wendt is a personal injury firm that specializes in cases involving serious injury, wrongful death, premises liability, medical negligence, abuse, and institutional negligence. This expertise may be particularly relevant to families in need of caregiving support, especially those dealing with preventable falls, unsafe supervision, medication-related harm, hospital negligence, or injury in a care setting. The firm offers valuable resources for caregivers, including dementia caregiver assistance, and serves primarily Arizona, Idaho, and Utah.
Marks & Harrison is a Virginia-based personal injury law firm that supports individuals and families affected by serious injuries caused by negligence. Their attorneys handle cases involving nursing home abuse and neglect, where resources for caregivers are often essential, as well as unsafe premises, motor vehicle accidents, medical malpractice, and wrongful death. They provide legal guidance to families seeking accountability after a preventable injury or loss, while also offering caregiving support and dementia caregiver assistance to help families navigate these challenging situations.
Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers is an Illinois personal injury firm specializing in nursing home abuse and neglect cases affecting older adults and individuals with disabilities. The firm provides essential information and legal representation in cases of neglect, abuse, preventable injuries, unsafe care, and wrongful death in long-term-care settings, while also offering caregiving support and resources for caregivers, including dementia caregiver assistance.
Gori Law provides valuable educational information aimed at supporting seniors and their caregivers in navigating legal issues that may arise from injuries, nursing home neglect or abuse, medication errors, unsafe living conditions, transportation accidents, and other concerns affecting the safety and well-being of older adults. The firm also offers caregiving support and dementia caregiver assistance, ensuring that clients have access to essential resources for caregivers. Serving clients across multiple states, Gori Law provides guidance on when consulting an attorney may be necessary.
They also offer this Guide to Assist Seniors with Special Needs.
These resources for caregivers are provided for general informational purposes and do not constitute legal advice or endorsements. The Missing Option and Bottom Line Solutions, LLC are not law firms and do not assess whether a particular situation qualifies as abuse, neglect, malpractice, negligence, or any other legal claim. Laws, reporting requirements, filing deadlines, and attorney licensing vary by jurisdiction and circumstance. It is important to verify credentials, geographic availability, relevant experience, fees, and other critical information independently before hiring an attorney. For those providing dementia caregiver assistance, if someone is in immediate danger, it’s crucial to contact appropriate emergency or protective services rather than waiting for legal consultation.
Dementia Denied tells the remarkable true story of Ginger Smith, a retired speech-language pathologist who was placed on hospice with what appeared to be terminal dementia—and then experienced an extraordinary turnaround. Blending Ginger’s personal story with research into dementia, medications, caregiving, and potentially reversible causes of cognitive decline, the book encourages families to ask questions, look deeper, and avoid assuming that every dementia diagnosis tells the whole story.
Dealing with Dementia for Caregivers is a practical, easy-to-understand guide for families navigating the daily realities of dementia care. It offers real-world strategies for managing difficult behaviors, reducing crisis situations, creating workable routines, avoiding 62 common caregiving mistakes, and protecting the caregiver from burnout. With more than 70 helpful resources, checklists, and supportive guidance, it is designed to help caregivers feel more informed, prepared, and less alone.
The Memory Keeper is a guided life-story journal designed to help individuals preserve the memories, experiences, traditions, and personal stories that make up a lifetime. Thoughtful prompts make it easier to record important moments, family history, favorite memories, lessons learned, and details loved ones may otherwise never think to ask. It can be completed independently or together with a family member or caregiver, creating a meaningful keepsake for future generations.
The Caregiver’s Care Package combines two complementary books—Dementia Denied and Dealing with Dementia for Caregivers—into one volume for families navigating dementia. Readers get Ginger Smith’s remarkable true story of severe cognitive decline and recovery alongside practical caregiving guidance on difficult behaviors, burnout, planning, crisis management, and more than 100 helpful resources. It is designed to provide both hope and real-world help for caregivers who need encouragement as well as practical answers.
The 36-Hour Day by Nancy L. Mace and Peter V. Rabins is a widely respected guide for families caring for someone with Alzheimer’s disease or another form of dementia. It explains common symptoms and behaviors, offers practical strategies for day-to-day care, addresses communication, safety, medical concerns, and caregiver stress, and helps families better understand what to expect as the disease progresses.
Creating Moments of Joy Along the Alzheimer’s Journey by Jolene Brackey focuses on helping caregivers create meaningful, comforting moments for people living with Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia. Rather than trying to correct every misunderstanding or force someone back into our reality, the book encourages caregivers to respond with empathy, creativity, humor, and connection—making daily interactions calmer and more positive for both the person with dementia and the caregiver.
Still Alice by Lisa Genova is a deeply moving novel about a Harvard professor diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease at age 50. Told from Alice’s perspective, the story offers an intimate look at how dementia affects memory, identity, relationships, independence, and family life. It can help caregivers and loved ones better understand the emotional experience of living with cognitive decline from the inside out.
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