Caregiver burnout: help for family caregivers in California

What is caregiver burnout?

Caregiver burnout is exhaustion of body and mind. It builds up when you give care for weeks or months with little sleep and no time off. It often comes with guilt, because you love the person and still want it to stop. The National Institute on Aging advises caregivers to look after their own health too. A caregiver who is ill or exhausted cannot keep going.

What are the signs of caregiver burnout?

If several of these are true for you, it is time to ask for more help.

• You sleep only in snatches, for weeks at a time.
• You are getting sick, or skipping your own appointments and medicines.
• You snap at the person you are caring for, then feel guilty.
• You feel hopeless, numb or angry most of the day.
• You have stopped seeing friends or doing anything for yourself.
• You have had no day off in a month, and no one else knows the routine.
• You dread the night, or you are afraid of what you will do if one more thing goes wrong.

What help is there for family caregivers in California?

Some of this help is part of hospice. Some of it works alongside hospice. Each row names the agency or rule behind it.

Program rules as published by each agency on November 13, 2026. Beta does not run IHSS, Paid Family Leave or the Caregiver Resource Centers and receives nothing for listing them.

Can hospice respite care give the caregiver a break?

Yes. Hospice respite care is the part of the hospice benefit that is for the caregiver. The patient stays for a short time in a hospital or nursing facility the hospice works with, up to 5 days at a time, and the hospice team keeps visiting there. The federal payment rule limits each respite stay to 5 days in a row. From the sixth day, Medicare pays the hospice at the routine home care rate instead (42 CFR 418.302). Beta does not run an inpatient unit of its own, so respite is in a contracted facility. To ask, tell the nurse or the social worker what you need and when. Read hospice respite care for how often, where and the cost.

Can IHSS pay a family member to give care?

Often, yes. In-Home Supportive Services is a county program for people with Medi-Cal who are 65 or older, blind or disabled and need help to stay safely at home. The county assesses the need and sets the monthly hours, and the person can choose a family member as the paid provider. IHSS is for people living in their own home, not in a licensed care facility. It works alongside hospice, and hospice does not reduce IHSS hours. Apply through the county IHSS office where the person lives. Read IHSS and hospice.

Can I get paid time off work to give care?

Often, yes. If you work in California and pay into State Disability Insurance, Paid Family Leave from the EDD can replace part of your wages for up to 8 weeks in a 12-month period. It covers time you spend caring for a seriously ill family member, and a person on hospice qualifies. Paid Family Leave pays benefits but does not protect your job on its own; federal and state leave laws may. Ask your employer's human resources office. Read paid family leave in California for what it pays and how to apply.

What is the Inland Caregiver Resource Center?

The Inland Caregiver Resource Center is the California Caregiver Resource Center for families in San Bernardino and Riverside counties. California funds 11 nonprofit Caregiver Resource Centers that together cover all 58 counties. They serve family caregivers of adults with a chronic, disabling condition such as dementia, Parkinson's disease or a brain injury. The California Department of Aging says services are based on need, with no means test, at low cost or none.

Services can include family consultation and care planning, short-term counseling, support groups, training, respite and legal and financial consultation. You do not need to be on hospice to use them. Contact the Inland Caregiver Resource Center at (800) 675-6694 or through its website (opens in a new tab). If you live in Los Angeles, Orange or Ventura County, find your local center on the statewide Caregiver Resource Centers site (opens in a new tab).

What should you tell the hospice team?

The team plans with what you tell them. Saying it does not mean you are giving up.

1. Step 1

   Say it plainly

   Tell the nurse or the social worker, at a visit or by phone: "I am not sleeping and I cannot keep this up." Nobody has to justify being tired.

2. Step 2

   Say what would help most

   A night of sleep, a few hours out of the house, help with bathing, a few days away, or someone to sort out IHSS or work leave.

3. Step 3

   Ask about each kind of help

   Ask whether respite, more aide visits in the plan of care, or a volunteer visit is possible, and whether the social worker can help with county programs.

4. Step 4

   Say it again if things change

   Needs grow as the illness changes. Tell the team again whenever the care becomes harder.

Common questions about caregiver burnout

Related guides

Caring for someone on hospice at home, hospice respite care, IHSS and hospice, paid family leave in California and bereavement and caregiver support.