AARP's New Military Caregiving Guide: Essential Resources for Veteran Caregivers

Navigate challenges and find resources, step-by-step

Amy Goyer,

AARP

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Published November 12, 2024

AARP

In the 1980s, I cared for my grandfather, C. V. Goyer, a veteran of World War I, World War II and the Korean War, and more than 20 years later, I cared for my dad, Robert Goyer, a WWII and Korean War veteran. Throughout both experiences, I often struggled to find support.

When caring for my grandfather, resources were limited. By the time I was caring for my dad, there was more support, especially from the VA, but I spent countless hours navigating his benefits, applying for them and managing them — often an arduous and frustrating process. Since Dad’s passing in 2018, support for veterans and their caregivers has expanded even further. That’s why I felt so passionate about updating AARP’s Military Caregiving Guide for Veterans, Service Members and Their Families. I want today’s military and veteran caregivers to have an easier time than I did.

The new AARP Military Caregiving Guide addresses the unique challenges faced by military service members, veterans, and their family caregivers. It offers practical, step-by-step guidance for common caregiving tasks and challenges, available in both an online version and a downloadable, printable PDF at AARP.org/CaringForVets. Key features include:

Targeted information and resources specifically for military and veteran caregivers.
Practical action steps that guide caregivers through a checklist process of assessing needs, identifying gaps, finding solutions and getting extra help.
A top ten list of the most common caregiving issues with advice on what to consider, actionable steps to take and additional resources.

Caregivers can explore the guide issue-by-issue or skip to a section that address their immediate needs covering topics like finances, legal affairs, abilities assessment, health managements, social support, housing, transportation, caregiving services, technology support and end-of-life care.

For those just beginning their caregiving journey, the guide covers essentials like:

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How to create and update your caregiving plan
Building your caregiving team
Care for the caregiver (which I consider an integral part of the caregiving plan; it’s vital, not optional).

For caregivers approaching the end of their role, we offer new resources on grief and life after caregiving. This section addresses the complexities of ambiguous loss and anticipatory grief experienced during caregiving, as well as the unique challenges of grieving after the loss of a loved one we have cared for.

Meanwhile, all caregivers can find value in our:

AARP Care Resources which links to a comprehensive, continuously updated list of programs, tools, and articles. You can also find state-level caregiver resources for each state at AARP.org/CaregiverResourceGuides.
AARP’s Online Caregiving Glossary which defines common caregiving, military and veteran terms. I remember being lost in the military terminology when I began caring for my dad, so I believe this is especially important!

We encourage you to explore the guide and share it with others who support service members and veterans. We hope this guide and its resources will make a significant difference in your caregiving journey. Thank you for all that you do to care for our heroes.

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