Dementia Caregiver Burnout: 6 Signs Your Family May Need More Support

Caring for a loved one with dementia can begin gradually. At first, you may simply help with appointments, medications, meals or errands. But as the disease progresses, those responsibilities can become increasingly demanding, and what once felt manageable can become overwhelming.

For families in Los Angeles, the challenges can be especially complicated. High care costs, long commutes in traffic, family members living in different areas, and a vast range of senior living options can make it difficult to know where to turn.

Here are 6 signs that your family may need more support, along with local resources that can help.

1. You’re physically and emotionally exhausted

Feeling tired after a difficult day is normal. But when exhaustion becomes constant, you’re losing sleep, or you’re struggling to keep up with everyday responsibilities, it may be a sign that caregiving is no longer sustainable. 

We recently worked with a Los Angeles family experiencing this firsthand. A wife caring for her husband with Lewy body dementia was working full-time, coordinating care with family members, managing outside caregivers, and responding to his increasingly complex and changing needs.

Even with support in place, the responsibility of holding everything together ultimately fell on her. 

A local resource: Alzheimer’s Los Angeles offers caregiver support groups and other resources for families navigating dementia throughout the region.

2. Caregiving is interfering with your work or daily life

Many family caregivers try to balance caregiving with jobs, relationships, household responsibilities and their own health. 

In Los Angeles, the logistics alone can add another layer of stress. Getting a loved one to a specialist appointment may involve considerable time in traffic, coordinating transportation, and taking time away from work. 

If you’re frequently missing work, canceling plans, delaying your own medical appointments or giving up activities that matter to you, it may be time to reconsider whether the current arrangement is realistic. 

3. You’re coordinating multiple caregivers and family members

Sometimes the issue isn’t that your loved one has no help. It’s that you have become the person responsible for managing everyone’s help.

Scheduling outside caregivers, communicating with family members, arranging appointments, managing medications and keeping everyone informed can become a full-time job in itself. 

This can be particularly challenging when relatives live outside the area and rely on one local family member to manage everything. 

A geriatric care manager can provide necessary hands-on support by assessing your loved one’s needs, coordinating services and communicating with providers. 

For families considering a move, a local senior living advisor can help identify appropriate communities, coordinate tours, and guide the placement process.

A local resource: If you’re feeling overwhelmed but aren’t ready to explore a move, contact us for recommendations on trusted Los Angeles geriatric care managers who can help coordinate your loved one’s care and take some of the responsibility off your plate.

4. Your loved one’s care needs have become increasingly complex

Dementia is progressive, and the level of support someone needs can change significantly over time.

A person who once needed occasional reminders may eventually require help with bathing, dressing, medications, mobility, or increased supervision.

This can be especially challenging with Lewy body dementia, which may involve changes in cognition, movement, sleep, and behavior.

When your loved one’s needs are changing faster than your ability to safely meet them, it’s time to explore additional support.

The right option might include increased in-home care, a smaller board and care home, an assisted living community, or specialized memory care. The most appropriate setting depends on the individual’s needs, preferences, and the level of support each provider can offer.

A local resource: The UCLA Alzheimer’s and Dementia Care Program offers dementia care management and caregiver support through UCLA Health.

5. You’re having trouble finding a community equipped for your loved one’s needs

Finding a memory care community isn’t necessarily the same as finding the right memory care community.

Los Angeles offers everything from smaller residential board and care homes to larger senior living communities with dedicated memory care programs. But availability, pricing, staffing, and the types of care each setting can provide vary considerably.

Families may spend days calling communities only to discover that a location they like doesn’t have an opening, cannot accommodate their loved one’s needs, or is outside their budget.

For families navigating complex dementia care, having local guidance through that process can make an overwhelming search much more manageable.

6. You’re becoming more of a caregiver than a spouse, child or partner

Perhaps the most overlooked sign is a change in your relationship with your loved one.

When every interaction revolves around medications, appointments, meals, bathing, safety, and managing behaviors, it can become difficult to simply spend time together.

For the wife we mentioned earlier, one of the most meaningful outcomes came after her husband transitioned into a specialized memory care community. She was able to return to being his spouse rather than his full-time caregiver.

Residential care doesn’t mean stepping away from your loved one. In many cases, it creates the opportunity to spend more meaningful time together without the constant pressure of managing every aspect of care.

Read the full case study here.

Asking for Help Is Not Giving Up

Recognizing caregiver burnout doesn’t mean you’ve failed your loved one. It means the current care plan may need to change. 

For some families, the next step is respite care or a caregiver support group. For others, it may be a consultation with a geriatric care manager, additional in-home support, or exploring assisted living, memory care, and board and care options.

If you’re caring for someone with dementia in Los Angeles and aren’t sure where to begin, speaking with a local senior living advisor can help you understand the available options and identify communities that fit your loved one’s needs, preferences, budget, and location.

About Assisted Living Locators

Since 2003, thousands of families have been helped by Assisted Living Locators, one of the nation’s leading free senior living placement services. The Los Angeles team serves clients from Glendale to Santa Monica, including West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Westwood, and everything in between. The office also represents clients looking for seniors living south of Ventura Boulevard in the San Fernando Valley in neighborhoods such as Sherman Oaks, Encino, and Studio City. The Los Angeles office can be reached at assistedlivinglocatorsla.com.