High-Intensity Family Caregivers

Overview

This factsheet, leveraging data from Caregiving in the US 2025, shows that high-intensity care situations can include providing longer hours of care weekly, helping with more care tasks essential to independent living (such as getting in and out of bed, preparing meals, bathing, managing medications or finances), or some combination of the two. Caregivers who provide high-intensity care spend more time and help with more tasks than other types of caregivers. They face greater demands and more complex responsibilities than their lower intensity counterparts.

High-intensity caregivers report higher levels of physical, emotional, and financial strain. These caregivers often provide care alone with less support from others (either paid or unpaid) and are more likely to serve as a primary caregiver. They also engage more frequently with health care providers and are more likely to be advocating and coordinating care for their care recipient. High-intensity caregivers also report more negative impacts on work and finances due to their caregiving role. They face greater difficulty accessing affordable services and are more likely to be caring for both older and younger family members as part of the sandwich generation. Yet many find a sense of purpose in caregiving.