If you are reading this at 2 a.m., that is information. Caregiver exhaustion is not a character flaw, and in Austin there is more free support than most families ever find.
Short answer
Respite, adult day care, and the free Austin support most families never hear about.
What to do, in order
- Take the exhaustion seriously as a clinical fact. Caregiver strain predicts poor outcomes for both people. This is not a motivation problem and willpower is not the missing input.
- Use respite before you are desperate. Adult day health care runs a Texas median around $90 a day against $5,666 a month for assisted living. AGE of Central Texas operates programs in Austin and Round Rock with a nurse on site.
- Take the free support that exists here. CaregiverU courses, support groups, and the equipment lending library are all free through AGE of Central Texas at 512-451-4611.
- Get a second opinion on the plan. The Capital Area ADRC at 855-937-2372 will review options at no cost. Families often discover they qualify for help they assumed was out of reach.
- Name the thing you are avoiding. Most caregivers know what the next step is months before they take it. What usually delays it is guilt, not information.