Ending caregiver burnout one caregiver at a time
Are you or someone you know a caregiver of an individual needing total care, home care services, spouse care, dementia care or elderly care?
Is your health failing and are you suffering from burnout from work 24/7 without support?
And also, are you providing care at no cost because the individual you care for does not receive care through professional caregiver agencies because of the cost or they do not have insurance?
If any of this sounds like you, I would like to introduce you to a program that was designed specifically for you, the average caregiver. The purpose is to give you a few of the basic MUST HAVE tools and services used daily by professional caregiving agencies for a fraction of the cost, as they care for multiple individual at a time in a residential home setting, with a variety of physical and mental disabilities. The goal is to help you understand the causes, affect, consequences and solutions to caregiver burnout.
My name is Lynnel Townsend and I am a professional caregiver with 30+ years experience in various fields of caregiving. I am CEO of SHS&S Organization designed to support two people involved in the caregiving journey, that’s the person needing care and you, the average caregiver. But even though my services does benefit and supports the patient, YOU are my primary concern.
Why is that?
Though many people become caregivers overnight and despite the fact that the age of caregivers is declining, just like a car that won’t run without gas, oil and proper maintenance you can’t keep going without the proper skills, tools, resources and support, and unless your 2
needs are met, you WILL breakdown, become overwhelmed and suffer from burnout. So like that car with a check engine light on, that car is not going anywhere until the issue is resolved.
So basically, when you suffer from burnout and you’re overwhelm Your CHECK ENGINE LIGHT is on. That’s why BOTH people in the caregiving journey MUST be treated as a unit. Otherwise you WILL breakdown and become overwhelmed, and when that happens…now there are TWO Sick people needing care, the patient and NOW YOU!
At SHS&S through a 4-6 week training program our goal is to help you receive the skills and resources you need so that you can protect your own wellbeing and get the support you need to minimize and possibly end caregiver burnout. Part of that training including how to find and train additional caregivers who will work a few days a week every week, to give you more than respite care.
Why do they need more than respite?
Because despite how great respite is, respite is temporary and sporadic. The only way you can minimize burnout and break the 24/7 caregiving cycle is to have consistent support, someone who can relieve you at a scheduled time and day the same time every week. This will help you create a routine and schedule, so that while caring for others you can take care of your own needs without sacrificing your health and well being.
Caregiver burnout is becoming an epidemic and as the numbers of individuals needing total care continues to increase, the age of those stepping into the role of full time family caregivers continue to decline. Most of these have little or no prior caregiving experience. SHS&S Organization was created to support these caregivers as many continue to provide 24/7 caregiving without support. So in order to support these caregivers we search for them wherever they can be found.
Attention!!!
If this sounds like you, what if I told you there is a way you could:
- Have some of the same tools and skills you would receive if you could afford the services of a professional caregiving agency for home care services, spouse care, dementia care, or elderly care?
- What if the cost to have some of these tools and skills was a ONE TIME FEE, that would cost about 1/4th of the monthly cost of caregiving services through such agencies?
If this sounds like you, please follow along to find out: What causes caregiver burnout, what it can do to your health and how you can prevent being the next victim. Because Caregiver Burnout is becoming an epidemic, let me help you understand why there needs to be a NEW APPROACH TO CAREGIVING. Find out what that New Approach is in our 4 Week online training program!
Searching for Caregivers Suffering from Burnout Wherever They Can Be Found
I would like to start by saying, because Caregiver burnout is a life threatening situation affecting caregivers worldwide working 24/7 without support. Though many have discussed respite to give these caregivers free time for themselves, unfortunately respite is temporary and sporadic. In recognition that they need consistent weekly breaks to care for their own needs, at SHS&S this is why we work hard to find proactive solutions to support these caregivers to focus on preventive measures to minimize or prevent burnout.
This is why in harmony with our mission we search for caregivers suffering from burnout where ever they can be found will always be at the heart of SHS&S and remain our primary focus. So this mission to support the caregiver and the person needing care has not, and will not change.
That is why in our endeavor to find caregivers suffering from burnout wherever they can be found, we expanded our reach to support healthcare professionals of hospitals and facilities. That is because many of them work directly with these same families during critical care transitions. We’ve expanded our reach to support them because as we explained our services to them, many healthcare professionals have expressed they suffer the same burnout as the families of patients they serve during the discharge process!
Watch a video about how caregiving is a temporary, sporadic situation:
Watch the following video to see how caregiver burnout can impact a person’s health
Professional Training for Burnout Prevention
Over the past two years, our work through SHS&S (Structured Holistic Services & Schedules) has expanded into both in-person and online training designed to support healthcare professionals and caregivers at one of the most critical points in care — discharge and transition home.
Through a structured 3-hour CEU-accredited training and extended caregiver support programs, I work with healthcare professionals across multiple fields to help them better understand caregiver burnout, professional burnout, and the connection between both within the healthcare system.
This training began with going through the process to obtain my CEU under NASW-TN to provide training specifically for social workers and case managers who care for families of patients during the discharge process. The 3 hour CEU Accredited classes were designed to help them understand the causes, effect, consequences and solutions to caregiver burnout, and to give them skills, tools and resources to support these families. At the end of the training they received a Caregiver Burnout Support Package to share with families and potential caregivers of every patient they serve right at discharge. This is the primary goal of SHS&S,
- To understand the serious issue healthcare professionals and family caregivers face, a common example seen in healthcare settings reflects the same principle described in frameworks like Hackman’s model of structured task clarity — their example is a sad reality of what can happen when individuals are not given clear expectations, instructions, and support. performance and outcomes improve significantly. Caregiving is no different. Families often do not fail due to lack of care, but due to lack of structure and guidance during critical situations in their lives and the life of the patient needing care.
So what happened during our in-person training? The following video is a segment of one of these classes. As you watch the video within that monthly class within the audience were more than just social workers there were over 30 additional healthcare professionals across various fields of care.
A New Chapter in Burnout Prevention – Bridging Caregivers and Healthcare Partnership
In our endeavors to find caregivers suffering from burnout wherever they can be found our next step was to go to healthcare professionals from hospitals and healthcare agencies. The goal was to introduce them to our 3 hour training and to ask if they could send the families and caregivers they serve to SHS&S so we could support these families through our 4 week training to help them end caregiver burnout.
To my amazement I found they suffer the same burnout as the families and caregivers they serve! What also became increasingly clear is that caregiver burnout and healthcare professional burnout are not separate issues — they mirror each other. That is because they are part of the same ecosystem, where each depends on the success of the other for stability, communication, continuity of care and for that system to function properly. So if one of these have problems – such as the caregiver that becomes overwhelmed, stressed or burnout, like a ripple affect it puts stress on the entire system, affecting everyone involved! And it usually happens at discharge when that caregiver is not given proper support, instructions or resources as the potential caregiver.
My work focuses on what happens when that system breaks down during discharge. When caregivers are overwhelmed and unsupported, healthcare professionals experience increased strain, reduced follow-through, and higher risk of crisis-driven outcomes. When healthcare professionals are overextended, caregivers are less prepared for what happens after discharge.
The following is a link to our monthly classes designed to help caregivers, families and healthcare professionals understand the causes, affect, consequences and solutions to caregiver burnout:
MONTHLY CLASSES
OUR SERVICES How a Powerful 3 Hour Class Bridges the Gap Between Caregivers and Healthcare Professionals as they Both Suffer from Burnout
How a Powerful 3 Hour Class Bridges the Gap Between Caregivers and Healthcare Professionals as they Both Suffer from Burnout
SHS&S created a system to address this gap by stabilizing caregivers through structured, practical support so that the entire system functions more effectively. Before coming to healthcare professionals, what’s interesting is this system was already built and in operation, and has been supporting families for over 5 Years! The system helps stabilize caregivers suffering from burnout by giving them practical skills, tools and resources that are non traditional and used by professional caregiving agencies for EVERY client they serve. This includes caring for 3 or more clients at a time in a residential home with a variety of physical and emotional disabilities.
So imagine the surprise and excitement of healthcare professionals once this system that can help stabilize the caregivers and families THEY serve was explained to them! Why were they excited? Let’s talk about 4 Separate benefits to the healthcare professional when they send their stressed and overwhelmed potential and already working caregivers to us to receive training through our 4 week training program designed to support caregivers suffering from burnout:
- Supports Discharge Planning Standards: Healthcare Professionals, and in particular social workers and case managers are required to meet the standards of ACMA and CCMC by education, resources, and support that promotes safe, effective care transitions.
- Our Stabilization Programs Reduces Caregiver Overwhelm and Burnout: We do this by helping families and family caregivers create a Personalized Plan of Care – a Manual, similar to one’s used daily by professional caregiver agencies for every client they care for. It is filled with all information needed about the individuals ailment and care so all involved with their care will know what to do and how to provide quality care. It equips them with the resources, support, knowledge, tools and skills needed to provide care.
- Improves Continuity of Care: This stabilization process of the caregiver actually improves the continuity of care which in turn strengthens their ability to follow discharge instructions. This is what strengthens that ecosystem and helps close the gap that contributes to burnout and stress from the caregiver and healthcare professional. This in turn alleviates complicated and avoidable readmissions.
- Extends the healthcare teams support beyond discharge: The SHS&S 4 week stabilization program reinforces education, answers questions which in turn is what helps minimize fear of the unknown for potential caregivers about to enter the caregiving role as well as already established caregiver. This helps them successful transition to their role.
This is just a few of the services we provide through SHS&S. You may be thinking… how does this connect with the 3 hour Class for Healthcare Professionals?
Please click on the link below and watch the following Powerful Podcast where we discuss many of the issues affecting healthcare professionals especially during the discharge process and our solution to these issues.
Our 4 week training course
to Support Caregivers Suffering from Burnout!
Closing the Gap through a 3 Hour Class
The 3-hour monthly class is designed to train healthcare professionals by helping them first identify the causes, affect, consequences and solutions to caregiver burnout. The class is designed to introduces practical, non-traditional caregiving tools that are commonly used in professional caregiving agencies but are not typically available to the general public. These tools help professionals better understand caregiver needs, improve discharge communication, and support continuity of care in real time.
The training begins as the healthcare professional simply clicks online and attend one of our scheduled monthly classes where they will learn these practical skills designed to benefit themselves and the families that are recipients of their care. The information and skills they will learn in this three hours includes a training Caregiver Burnout Prevention Package they should give to EVERY CAREGIVER AND FAMILY of each patient transitioning from the hospital and agency.
The healthcare professional is encouraged to have a 45 minute to an hour meeting with the family, including those present but living far away where they will introduce the information to the family. The information in the package does the work with minimum work from the healthcare professional by videos and prompting the healthcare professional to follow each instruction.
Because the healthcare professional is already required through ACMA, CCMC and other standards to educate the families during discharge and transition, the minimum time involved 9
will actually be to to the advantage of this professional by helping them meet many of these requirements with additional benefits. So when caregivers are stabilized, healthcare professionals experience improved follow-through, fewer breakdowns in care, and stronger continuity outcomes.
Over the past two years this training has gained national attention across multiple healthcare roles because it offers immediate, usable strategies — not theory — for real-world challenges. It is engaging healthcare professionals across multiple disciplines through social media, speaking opportunities, and media features, including radio interviews and podcast appearances. These platforms have helped bring awareness to the need for structured caregiver support systems and the role healthcare professionals play in strengthening that support at discharge.
At its core, SHS&S highlights a simple but often overlooked truth: healthcare systems and caregiving systems operate as one ecosystem. When one side is unsupported, the entire system feels the impact. The services we provide through SHS&S brings structure back into that ecosystem by providing caregivers with clear guidance and healthcare professionals with practical tools that improve care transitions and long-term outcomes.
The following information and links MEDIA FEATURES & PROFESSIONAL LINKS, monthly training classes and additional interviews
Podcast Interview
Radio Interviews — Dan Reeves & Jason Jackson
SHS&S Training Link & Live Class Demonstration
- Monthly Class Registration: https://www.endcaregiverburnout.com/book-an-appointment/
- Live 3-Hour Training Class with Audience Participation: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1uyaLX0…
Client Testimonials & Healthcare Professional Perspectives 10
- Client Testimonial (Video): https://youtube.com/shorts/8kuk2L-vhhI?si=VzcwHGMAUlm5s5AN
- Healthcare Professional – Discharge Experience (Video): https://youtu.be/hWls8QQKkq4?si=d…