Detroit’s Strategic Community Solutions Combats Caregiver Burnout with Innovative ‘Rest & Recharge + Helping Hands’ Program for Southeast Michigan Caregivers
Jake Newby
| 6 min read
Caregiving is one of the most selfless and compassionate duties one can take on. But it’s common for caregivers to get so lost in caring for someone else that they burn out and neglect to care for themselves.
Deborah Royal was a caregiver long before she was the program director of Detroit nonprofit Strategic Community Solutions (SCS). She is a shining example of someone who knows what it’s like to put the older adults in her life first, but she is not alone. In fact, one in five people in the United States are unpaid family caregivers.
“I can remember getting ready for bed at night, sleeping with my shoes and clothes and prepared to jump up, get dressed and run out of the house after someone who has dementia, who may have figured out how to get out of the house while I was lying here resting,” Royal said. “You’re always on 100% alert, so you never really get a minute to just debrief and think about yourself.”
In 2024, SCS launched the “Rest & Recharge + Helping Hands” program, a two-part initiative that provides resources, information and respite options for caregivers in metro Detroit, while also connecting them with basic maintenance services so they aren’t inundated with even more work to do at home following work and caregiving.
“One of the main things that caregivers are responsible for in addition to the caregiving of an individual is also the upkeeping of their home,” Royal explained. “Things like cutting the grass, having the snow removed. The screen is broken, the faucet is running, the toilet is leaking … those are major (things) when they are your responsibility in addition to everything you are doing (as a caregiver). What Rest & Recharge + Helping Hands does is offer those services to caregivers, either in their home or the home of the caregiving recipient. If they’d normally have to cut the grass at two houses, that’s taking away even more time that they’d have for themselves.”
By having professionals provide minor home repairs, lawn care and snow removal, caregivers are relieved of these duties and can use the time saved for rest, personal errands, or leisure activities. SCS states this can significantly reduce stress, and physical strain, especially for those who may not have the skills, tools or physical ability to perform these tasks themselves.
The Caregiver Tool Kit digital program provides training, leisure opportunities for caregivers
The second component of this initiative is Strategic Community Solutions’ Caregiver Tool Kit. This Tool Kit provides respite opportunities and career development tools at the fingertips of Southeast Michigan caregivers
This digital program is accessible to caregivers involved in Rest & Recharge + Helping Hands, and includes caregiving resources, tips and checklists – like medications, dosages, doctors and emergency contacts of their caregiving recipients – as well as a monthly rotating “menu” of self-care services, community engagement events and activity opportunities in their area, so local caregivers can relax and recharge.
“Our menu items are released monthly, and they include everything we have planned for the month,” Royal explained. “Any activities, any trainings, any upcoming events. Tickets we’ve been provided. The Detroit Tree Lighting, even. We had that listed as one of our opportunities. We offered hot chocolate and comradery, so that we could all enjoy it as a group.”
Beyond the leisure opportunities, the Caregiver Tool Kit provides professional training and support resources from other organizations not necessarily partnering with SCS. The Tool Kit is designed to be a one-stop-shop for personal and professional needs.
“We can connect caregivers to other services,” Royal said. “They may decide to pursue a new career, and we want to help them do that by having them prepared.”
The Rest & Recharge + Helping Hands project is one of 11 new respite programs in Southeast Michigan funded by Exhale – The Family Caregiver Initiative. Exhale funds collaborative projects that are reimagining respite and increasing respite opportunities for family caregivers of older adults. Part of what Exhale does is provide administrative training, resources, and ongoing support to organizations like SCS so they can carry out these crucial initiatives.
In Southeast Michigan, Exhale is made possible by nearly $2.2 million in funding from the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation, the Michigan Health Endowment Fund, the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan (BCBSM) and the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan Foundation. Strategic Community Solutions received a $266,000 36-month grant to help the Rest & Recharge + Helping Hands program reach as many caregivers as possible. Simply knowing respite services are available can lower caregiver stress by 70%, according to Exhale.
“(Caregiver burnout) is such a huge problem in our country and in our community, for sure,” Royal said. “Caregiving has become a part of family life for many of us, so it doesn’t seem like a title of caregiving. It seems like a part of life. So, it’s paramount for the caregivers to have time to address their own needs.”
“The exhaustion and burnout from caregiving is real. We know that in some cases, it can lead to feelings of detachment from the caregiving role,” said BCBSM Foundation Program Officer Audrey Rogal. “We want to support the caregivers who so selflessly support others, that’s why we’re proud to be a part of such a large project and initiative dedicated to supporting the whole person health of caregivers.
“While family caregiving can be a rewarding experience, it often presents physical and emotional challenges along the way. We are pleased to be a partner in the Exhale initiative to support a growing network of organizations like Strategic Community Solutions working to reinforce caregiver well-being and effectiveness and improving the health of caregiving communities,” added Ken Hayward, BCBSM vice president and special assistant to the president for Community Relations.
Royal said the goal is to provide programming within the Rest & Recharge + Helping Hands initiative to 30 caregivers/families in southeast Michigan who applied and were selected over the life of the 36-month grant. She added that there is a waitlist of applicants if anyone currently selected drops out. Finally, Royal said she hopes this program will serve as a blueprint of sorts for similar programs in the future.
“These programs are beginning to surface, and they are much needed,” she said. “I would hope that someone would look at the basis of our program and say, ‘We can do that in our community.’ Wherever they are, take this program, replicate it for their caregivers in need.”
To learn more about the BCBSM Foundation and its current grant opportunities, visit the website here.
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Photo credit: Deborah Royal/Strategic Community Solutions
