Caring for someone you love is rewarding, and it is also a load. Care Load is a quiet, weekly check-in with yourself: a place to notice how you are really doing, see how the care is shared, and let your circle know when you could use a hand. It is just for family members who are helping out. Your older adult does not see it, and professional caregivers have their own version.
Where to find it
In your Caregiving hub, on the Care Load card: "See where your energy is going, and where you might need to ask for help." You can also reach it from the sidebar under Care Tools.
The weekly check-in (a minute, tops)
How are you doing this week? Pick one: Good (steady, I've got this), Stretched (a lot on my plate), or Running low (I could use a hand).
What's weighing on you? If you choose Stretched or Running low, you can tap what is behind it: your own family and kids, work demands, your own health, distance and logistics, the emotional weight, money and costs, not enough time, or something else in your own words. Optional - it just helps point you to the right support.
Who sees it? Choose Just for me to keep it a private sanity log, or Share with my circle so the people around you know when you are running low and can step in. Private is the default, and your choice saves on its own.
Looking back (always private)
Below the check-in you will see your last several weeks as a small colored strip: green for good weeks, gold for stretched, deep red for running low, gray for weeks you skipped. If the load has been heavy for a stretch, a gentle line will say so. This history is yours alone. No one else sees it, even for a week you chose to share.
Your week, at a glance
Care Load also reflects the quiet ways you showed up: times you were in touch, tasks you handled, notes you added. And it shows how the care is shared across your circle, including any areas that still rest on the family with no point person. See where a hand is welcome takes you to Our List.
When you share that you are running low
If you mark a week as stretched or running low and choose to share it, your circle gets a single, gentle heads-up, and a banner appears at the top of their Our List: "[Your name] is running low this week - here's where a hand is welcome." You stay in control: switch the week back to private, or to Good, and the banner disappears. Sharing again later in the same week will not pester anyone with a second alert.
A note on tone
Care Load is not a test or a diagnosis. There is no right answer and no burnout score. It is simply a steadier way to notice your own week, and a low-friction way to ask for help before you are running on empty.