CARES Framework Gives Sandwich Generation Caregivers a Roadmap

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Christy Byrne Yates, a retired school psychologist and sandwich generation caregiver, developed a five-part framework called CARES to help family caregivers sustain themselves: Choose (consciously claim the caregiver role), Address (have difficult conversations before a crisis forces them), Recharge (monitor your body for stress signals and act before you are depleted), Enlist a team (bring in professionals — attorneys, geriatric case managers, financial planners — rather than trying to do everything yourself), and Surrender (accept that you cannot control every outcome, including decisions your aging parent makes for themselves). Yates argues that the first step — consciously choosing the role rather than sliding into it — is the most protective, because it gives caregivers permission to set boundaries and draw on their own strengths instead of spending energy resisting a reality that is already happening.