78% of Caregivers Report Burnout; SonderCare Highlights Equipment’s Role in Easing the Load
New research shows caregiver stress is persistent and widespread — SonderCare explains how thoughtfully designed home care equipment can reduce the physical burden that compounds daily exhaustion.
O’FALLON, MO — July 17, 2026 — As new reporting from WTOC News draws attention to the warning signs of family caregiver burnout, SonderCare, a premium home hospital bed manufacturer, is responding with a message for the millions of families providing daily care at home: the design of care equipment is not a peripheral concern — it is a front-line factor in how sustainable caregiving can be.
The Numbers Behind the Burnout
The WTOC report highlighted what healthcare professionals have long observed — that caregiver burnout is not an occasional event but a persistent condition affecting households across the country, and that recognizing its early signs is essential to preventing a full crisis.
The data reinforces that warning. According to a 2025 national survey commissioned by A Place for Mom — conducted with more than 1,000 family caregivers across the United States — 78% of caregivers report experiencing burnout, with many describing it as a daily or near-daily occurrence. Stress and anxiety affect 87% of caregivers at some point and are experienced at least weekly by more than half. Feelings of overwhelm are nearly as common, reported by 84% of caregivers overall.
The caregiving population is also growing rapidly. Approximately 63 million Americans now serve as family caregivers — a figure that has increased by 45% over the past decade. Research consistently finds that between 40% and 70% of family caregivers exhibit clinical symptoms of depression, yet 30% report entering their caregiving role feeling mostly or completely unprepared for what lay ahead.
The Physical Toll That Equipment Can Make Worse — or Better
SonderCare has long maintained that while no product eliminates caregiver burnout, inadequate home care equipment quietly compounds it every day. When beds cannot be raised to a safe working height, caregivers bend repeatedly during repositioning, hygiene care, and medical tasks. When fall risk is not mitigated by the bed itself, caregivers bear the psychological weight of constant vigilance — especially overnight.
“When we look at data showing that nearly 8 in 10 caregivers are burned out, we have to ask what we can do on our end,” said Ben Martin, President of SonderCare. “A lot of that exhaustion accumulates from the physical demands of caregiving — repositioning a loved one, managing transfers, preventing falls. Equipment that makes those tasks harder is contributing to the problem, whether anyone realizes it or not.”
SonderCare’s hospital-grade home beds are engineered with caregiver ergonomics as a primary design consideration. The Aura series features hi-lo height adjustment that raises the bed to a full 39 inches for standing caregivers and drops to a pre-programmed 21-inch transfer position for wheelchair users — eliminating the sustained bending and awkward mechanics that accumulate into injury and fatigue over months of daily care. A full positioning suite, including Trendelenburg tilt, Zero Gravity, and Cardiac Chair, allows caregivers to manage repositioning through adjustments rather than manual lifting.
Designed for Both People in the Room
SonderCare’s approach to caregiver support extends to the products themselves. Key features on the Aura line that directly address caregiver strain include:
- Hi-Lo Height Adjustment (10″ to 39″): Sets the bed at an ergonomic working height, reducing cumulative back strain during care tasks
- FallSafe Ultra-Low Height (10″ platform / 17″ to mattress top): Lowers fall risk when caregivers step away, reducing the burden of constant supervision
- 21″ Pre-Programmed Transfer Position: A consistent, safe height for wheelchair-to-bed transfers that protects both caregiver and care recipient
- Full Positioning Suite: Enables repositioning through bed adjustments rather than manual lifting, reducing physical demand on caregivers
- FDA-Registered, Hospital-Grade Certification: Delivers verified safety standards without requiring clinical expertise to evaluate
For households where a spouse serves as the primary caregiver, the Aura Companion Bed offers a split-king configuration in which each side operates independently — allowing a caregiving partner to adjust their own sleeping position for rest while the care recipient’s needs are met from the same shared bed.
“Caregiver rest is not a luxury — it is a safety issue,” Martin noted. “When the person providing care is running on empty and dealing with physical injury, the quality of that care suffers. We design our products so that caregivers can do what they need to do without destroying their own health in the process.”
Looking Ahead
As the family caregiving population continues to expand and the data on burnout grows harder to ignore, SonderCare remains focused on equipping families with home care solutions that support the well-being of every person in the room — not just the one in the bed. Families evaluating home care equipment can speak with SonderCare’s bed experts at www.sondercare.com or explore the full line of hospital-grade home beds at www.sondercare.com/beds/.
About SonderCare
SonderCare is a premium home hospital bed manufacturer dedicated to enhancing safety, comfort, and dignity for individuals aging in place or requiring home care. With over 25 years of healthcare expertise, SonderCare’s FDA-registered, hospital-grade beds combine medical functionality with furniture-grade residential design. The company’s product line includes the Aura Premium, Aura Platinum, and Aura Companion beds, featuring FallSafe ultra-low height technology, full positioning suites, and white-glove delivery service. For more information, visit www.sondercare.com.
Media Contact
Ben Martin
President, SonderCare
info@sondercare.com
www.sondercare.com
