New Caregiver Survey by CaringBridge Sheds Light on Challenges and Solutions for Family Caregivers

New CaringBridge survey outlines important role CaringBridge plays to provide much-needed support for family caregivers' emotional and social health.

BLOOMINGTON, Minn., April 3, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- CaringBridge, a no-cost, nonprofit health platform, released findings today from a recent survey to family caregivers using CaringBridge, shedding light on the challenges faced by family caregivers and the positive impact of CaringBridge on caregivers' emotional and social health.

Caregiving is Challenging

According to the survey, over 60% of caregivers find caregiving stressful, with over 30% experiencing heavy financial strain. Additionally, 36% of caregivers feel isolated, while 60% feel "left out" of their social circles.

CaringBridge Helps Improve Family Caregivers' Emotional and Social Health

The survey reported the differences between new CaringBridge users who joined less than 3 months ago and those users of 6+ months. A 4x improvement between the two groups was noted when "strongly disagreeing" with the statement "I feel alone". Additionally, 19% reported strongly agreeing that "caregiving gives them a sense of purpose at less than 3 months, and 2x more, or 41% reported feeling a sense of purpose at 6 months or more. It was reported in the survey that CaringBridge provides an easy, efficient way to communicate with family and friends. Others shared that it creates a sense of community and support, and CaringBridge helped them feel less isolated. One respondent shared, "It brought our community of friends and family to support us in the specific ways we need help. We are surprised and grateful to know that we have so many people who are there for us."

CaringBridge is for Everyone

CaringBridge is a safe, private, ad-free space for family caregivers to share their unique health or caregiving journey, connect with others, and find strength in the collective support, emotional and functional, from their chosen community. CaringBridge user Eric echoes this, "CaringBridge offered the ability for me to post our story and updates as we experienced them instead of us having to reach out to everyone individually. CaringBridge also presents itself as a site built for reflection, compassion and respect for what we are going through and offers easy ways for our friends to share their feelings for us. I would be terrified to share what I have on any other social site. I feel safe sharing our story on CaringBridge." Learn more about Eric's journey here 

CaringBridge Provides Helpful Tools

Survey respondents praised CaringBridge for its efficient tools, fostering a sense of community and reducing isolation. This sentiment rings true for CaringBridge user Liz Rowe who says, "Just…to let people know what was going on and seeing people's comments was really encouraging. It meant a lot. Especially because it can be lonely at times. [CaringBridge] felt like a connection to people, but without the burden of texting everyone individually." Learn more about how CaringBridge helped Liz here

Tia Newcomer, CaringBridge CEO, emphasizes the importance of support and community during a health journey, stating, "Caring for a loved one during a health challenge is overwhelming and stressful, in fact 40% of unpaid family caregivers report feeling isolated and unsupported. CaringBridge provides the ability to connect and activate the community of your choice, making it simple and easy to share updates and coordinate support all in one place. Because of this, 2/3 of CaringBridge caregivers receive support for their request within 24 hours. This is only possible because generous donors power CaringBridge, making it available at no-cost, private and ad-free."
Read more about Tia here.

To support family caregivers, and ensure no one goes through a health journey alone, and to make a tax-deductible donation, please visit CaringBridge.org/give. 

About CaringBridge
CaringBridge is a no-cost, nonprofit health platform that surrounds family caregivers with support while they care for a loved one on a health journey. The organization offers tools to share and document a health journey, simplify care coordination, and connect caregivers with a supportive community. CaringBridge addresses feelings of overwhelm, isolation, and loneliness by improving emotional health and social connectedness, helping people come together in support of healing. www.caringbridge.org  

SOURCE CaringBridge