The Best Podcasts For Family Caregivers

Sometimes, I would listen for the topic I desperately needed in the moment, such as choosing an assisted living community, managing caregiver guilt, or asking for help. Other times, I just needed to hear how other family caregivers were coping with the physical and emotional rollercoaster involved in the journey.

While I enjoy reading, picking up a book without falling immediately asleep was difficult after long days of juggling caregiving with other responsibilities. Meanwhile, I discovered that podcasts were a lighter commitment and got right to the heart of the issues I was facing. I could use my errand, commute, and waiting time productively, and would suddenly feel wiser after listening to an episode. I could also pair my listening with a healthy habit like taking a walk, and would feel accomplished that I had successfully integrated some mental and physical self-care into my day.

There are podcasts for every type of family caregiver. Most of them are available on all the major podcast platforms, including Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and Amazon Music. Here are a few I recommend you check out:

Holistic Caregiving Podcasts

Happy Healthy Caregiver

A shout out to my podcast, where actual family caregivers share how to be happy and healthy while caring for others. I share my personal stories, interview spotlight caregivers who have been in the trenches of caregiving, and glean practical wisdom from their experiences.

• Sample topics: Integrating daily self-care, setting boundaries, asking for help, coping with grief
• Episode frequency: Bi-weekly

Daughterhood the Podcast

Host Rosanne Corcoran is a current family caregiver in the sandwich generation. She showcases guests who provide insight, resources, and skills to manage your unique situation and to affirm you are not alone.

• Sample topics: Communicating with individuals with dementia, elder law, navigating holidays, nutrition for elders, medicare
• Episode frequency: Monthly

A Season of Caring

Hosted by two ICF-certified coaches, Rayna Neises and Karen Weaver want you to feel encouraged and hopeful after listening to each episode. This show features family caregiver ‘survivors,’ those still in their caring season, and professional experts.

• Sample topics: Adult day services, creative self-care, estate planning, financial decision making
• Episode frequency: Weekly

How We Got Here

This new podcast aims to enrich our understanding of what it means to give and receive care. Hosted by Christina Best of Caregiving.com and Chris MacLellan of Whole Care Network, each episode features an expert in healthcare sharing their caregiving circumstances and how these experiences changed them.

• Sample topics: Caregiver compensation, hospice, financial stress, selflessness
• Episode frequency: Weekly

Working Daughter

Host Liz O’Donnell aims to give a voice to the millions of family caregivers juggling eldercare, career, and life.

• Sample topics: Juggling work/homeschooling/caregiving during the pandemic, Cigna support for caregivers, working sons
• Episode frequency: Seasonal

In Sickness

Two millennial caregivers for their chronically ill spouses talk candidly about what life is like when more days are spent in sickness than in health.

• Sample topics: Processing a diagnosis, relationship changes, Covid impacts, new policies
• Episode frequency: Monthly

Dementia Focused Podcasts

According to an Alzheimer’s Association 2021 report, half of all caregivers help an older adult or someone with Alzheimer’s or another type of dementia. The challenges that dementia caregivers face require their own level of validation, support, and resources. The podcasts shared below focus on these unique specialties and areas:

Alzheimer’s Speaks Radio

Host Lori La Bey welcomes all voices on the topic of Alzheimer’s and dementia. Her guests include researchers, family members, authors, corporate owners, entertainers, product inventors, and policymakers.

• Sample topics: Clinical trials, brain health, dementia-friendly communities, music therapy
• Episode frequency: Twice a week

Untangling Alzheimer’s & Dementia

Marianne Sciucco, a Registered Nurse who has cared for hundreds of patients with dementia, interviews members of AlzAuthors. Each guest has written something - a memoir, caregiver guide, novel, children’s book, activity guide, poetry book, or blog.

• Sample topics: Types of dementia, finding humor, writing, story sharing, caring for multiple people at once
• Episode frequency: Weekly

Rodger That

Hosted by a married couple who cared for a loved one with dementia. Wife Bobbi is also a Certified Caregiving Consultant. Their show focuses on the family caregiver and offers practical advice and support.

• Sample topics: Leveraging workplace benefits, young and millennial caregivers, patient abuse, aging in the LGBT community, early-onset dementia
• Episode frequency: Weekly

After Caregiving Ends: End-of-Life Focused Podcasts

Death and dying can be an uncomfortable topic for many caregivers, but preparation for a loved one’s end of life can bring peace of mind for family members. The podcasts below help normalize the conversation and provide insights into the final stage of a caregiving journey:

The Heart of Hospice

A podcast dedicated to informing personal and professional caregivers about all things related to hospice care. Hosted by Helen Baur, Hospice RN, and Jerry Fenter, Spiritual Counselor.

• Sample topics: end of life challenges, hospice volunteers, advance care planning, patient advocacy
• Episode frequency: Weekly

Everyone Dies

This podcast aims to educate its listeners about the processes associated with dying and death, so this knowledge can effectively guide care and decision-making.

• Sample topics: Dating after a partner dies, coping with the death of a child, writing an obituary, becoming an adult orphan
• Episode frequency: Weekly

Healing Ties

Host Chris Maclellan, aka ‘the Bow Tie Guy,’ primarily speaks with guests after their caregiving journey has ended. He wants to reveal how people continue to care beyond caregiving through their words, actions, and deeds.

• Sample topics: caregiving stories, long-distance caregiving, celebrating holidays, services for caregivers
• Episode frequency: Seasonal

Once you sample and decide on the shows you find the most helpful for your situation, consider subscribing to the podcast through your favorite listening platform so the latest episodes can appear in your listening queue. To further support these podcasts, leaving a rating and review is always greatly appreciated.

Lastly, remember that word of mouth is powerful. Sharing your favorite podcasts (or this article!) with friends and family can help connect an overwhelmed and isolated family caregiver to helpful resources and provides them a practical platform to receive this information.

Elizabeth B. Miller is a family caregiver, Certified Caregiving Consultant, and founder of Happy Healthy Caregiver. Through her speaking, consulting, and online resources, Elizabeth helps family caregivers integrate caregiving and self-care with their busy lives. She is the host of the Happy Healthy Caregiver podcast on the Whole Care Network, author of Just for You: A Daily Self-Care Journal, administrator of the Self-Care Support for Family Caregivers FB Group, and facilitator of an Atlanta caregiver support group called the Atlanta Daughterhood Circle.