The Six Caregiving Stages
A roadmap for your caregiving journey. Understand where you are, what to expect, and how to navigate each stage with confidence and support.
When you expect a child, the community rallies around you with gifts, well wishes, and encouragement. But when you become a family caregiver, you might feel isolated from the community. Friends, co-workers, even family members may not understand your worries and commitments. Without support, you might find yourself fighting self-doubts. That's why I've developed the Six Caregiving Stages—to provide a map for your journey, just like books for expecting parents. Because no journey is completed without wrong turns, unexpected delays, and unplanned crises. Our map includes ways to steady these stumbles and help you understand how important this caregiving journey is—to your caree, your family, and yourself.
Understanding Your Caregiving Journey
The Six Caregiving Stages is a proprietary framework that describes what to expect throughout your caregiving journey. Separated into six stages, the model reflects the increasing intensity of the caregiving role. Within each stage, you'll find a keyword that becomes your coping strategy. As you progress through the stages, these keywords accumulate, giving you multiple go-to actions during times of stress, worry, and frustration.
Know Where You Are
Identify which stage of caregiving you're in. Understanding your current stage helps you prepare for what's ahead and recognize what you're already handling.
Know What to Expect
Each stage has predictable challenges, emotions, and transitions. Knowing what's typical helps you feel less alone and more confident.
Build Your Coping Strategies
Each stage introduces a keyword and coping strategy. As you move through stages, you accumulate tools to handle increasing caregiving intensity.
Find Meaning and Connection
The Six Stages framework helps you spend more time making your caregiving experience meaningful for your caree, your family, and yourself.
The Six Caregiving Stages™ framework has been evaluated across 284 evaluations from family caregivers and healthcare professionals. Read the Evidence of Impact →
The Six Caregiving Stages
Caring for Someone with Dementia?
We've developed a version of the Six Caregiving Stages specifically for dementia family caregivers — reflecting the unique emotional journey of caring for a caree whose condition will continue to progress.
Each stage includes Barbara's story, a family caregiver navigating her husband's Alzheimer's diagnosis, alongside the keywords, stumbles, and steadies tailored to the dementia caregiving experience.
Where Are You in Your Caregiving Journey?
Take our quick assessment to identify which stage you're in and get personalized insights and resources for your situation.
Find Your Caregiving StageWhat Is Your Caregiving Work Worth?
Wherever you are in your caregiving journey, your work has a value — even though no one reimburses you for it. Family caregivers using our calculator report an average of $163,000 a year in non-reimbursed value. See what your number is.
Calculate Your Caregiving ValueYour Stage Is Also Your Starting Point
The Six Caregiving Stages™ is more than a map for your own caregiving journey. Our proprietary concept forms the foundation for the Certified Caregiving Consultant program, as well as the training path for navigators and facilitators. The Six Caregiving Stages joins our other proprietary concepts, including the Nine Caregiving Domains™, the 19 Caregiving Systems™, and the 14 Caregiving Fatigues™. These concepts offer professionals profound insights into the caregiving experience that change their work.
If this framework just helped you make sense of your own experience, then you experienced the same shift our family caregivers-turned-consultants describe the first time they use it to support a client.
Explore Our Programs →Tools & Resources
We've developed comprehensive resources to support you at every stage of your caregiving journey.
The Caregiving Years Tools
Our interactive tools help you find the answers and solutions that are right for you. Released with our 10th edition of The Caregiving Guide handbook.
Explore the Tools →The Caregiving Guide Books
Explore Denise's 16 books, including The Caregiving Guide, for comfort, support, and resources for every day of your caregiving experience.
Browse the Books →Caregiving Assessments
Discover which stage you're in, how stressed you are, what's wearing you out, and what you need. Our assessments help you understand your unique situation.
View Assessments →What Helped You at Your Stage?
Share the products, services, training videos, and wisdom that helped you during your caregiving journey. Your experience can guide the next family caregiver who is right where you were.
Share What Helped →Frequently Asked Questions
Do I have to move through all six stages?
Not necessarily. Everyone's caregiving journey is different. Some people move through stages sequentially, others may skip stages or spend different amounts of time in each. The framework, which is not a rigid prescription, helps you understand your experience.
Can I move backward to a previous stage?
Yes. Life changes—a new diagnosis, a hospitalization, a major life event—can move you backward to a previous stage. The stages aren't linear and reflect your emotions and your reality.
How do the keywords and coping strategies work?
Each stage introduces a keyword—a coping strategy or action that helps you manage that stage. As you progress, you accumulate multiple keywords, creating a toolkit of strategies to draw from during stress, worry, and frustration. When you can't think of what to do, think of a one-word keyword which can offer guidance for a next step.
Can I use the Six Stages framework if I'm caring for a friend or non-family member?
Absolutely. The emotional journey, challenges, and transitions apply to anyone providing ongoing care for another person.
Is the Six Stages framework part of your training programs?
Yes. The framework is central to our training for Certified Caregiving Consultants and is woven throughout our coaching programs, workshops, and resources.
I don't live with my caree. Will this concept apply to my situation?
Yes! A caregiving experience is an emotional one rather than about location. It's not about where your caree lives but about the emotional impact of helping and supporting your caree.
I don't provide hands-on care. Will this concept apply to my situation?
Yes! A caregiving experience includes so much more than hands-on care. You manage 19 different Caregiving Systems, organize and coordinate care, and worry about so much. Strategizing and planning make up a huge part of your role. You also feel so many intense emotions, which is why you deserve support.
Copyright & Licensing Information
The Six Stages of Caregiving can only be reproduced, reprinted or presented with the permission of Denise M. Brown, who holds the copyright.
If you will reference the Six Stages of Caregiving in a work you will produce or publish, please reach out to Denise for information about licensing the content for your use.
Related Resources & Frameworks
Bring the Six Caregiving Stages™ to Your Community
Are you a healthcare professional, coach, or community leader who wants to bring this framework to the family caregivers you serve? The Certified Caregiving Guide program trains and certifies individuals to deliver the Six Caregiving Stages™ workshop in their own communities and organizations.
Learn About the Certified Caregiving Guide ProgramJoin Our Community: Caring Our Way
Connect with other family caregivers, access exclusive resources, participate in our planning sessions, and find ongoing support as you navigate your caregiving journey. Our community is here for you every step of the way.
Join Caring Our Way CommunityReady to Understand Your Caregiving Journey?
Take our assessment to identify which stage you're in and get personalized resources and support.
Find Your Caregiving Stage