Preparing for Care: A Clinician's Perspective on Anticipatory Caregiving and Meaning Making

More than 50 million adults in the United States provide unpaid care to a family member. Caregiving is associated with high rates of depression, anxiety, social isolation, financial strain, and physical exhaustion. Elevated caregiver distress has also been linked to poorer patient outcomes, including worse symptom control, lower adherence to treatment, and increased health care use. Despite this well-documented burden, most research and intervention efforts focus on caregivers once illness or disability is already advanced and strain is fully present. Far less attention has been given to anticipatory caregiving, the emotional and relational adjustments that begin before clear functional decline. As aging parents grow more frail, adult children often confront uncertainty, shifting roles, and the gradual loss of independence long before hands-on care is required. This period may be marked by vigilance, grief, and existential distress, yet it remains largely unaddressed in the literature. This perspective examines anticipatory caregiving through clinical reflection and personal narrative, highlighting the need to recognize and support caregivers earlier in the trajectory of aging, before crisis defines the experience.