Caregivers pour their hearts into supporting others, often putting their own needs last. This holiday season, give them the gift of comfort, convenience, or much-needed relaxation with presents designed to make their demanding role a little easier.
From soothing self-care treats to practical tools that lighten their load, these 10 thoughtful gifts for caregivers tell them they’re truly appreciated. Whether you’re shopping for a family member, friend, or professional caregiver, these ideas deliver warmth and support in ways that matter most.
Let's Get Our Caregivers the Gifts They Need in 2025
This holiday season, let family and friends know about the gifts you’d most like to receive.
We’ve compiled 10 thoughtful gift suggestions into a list that you can send to your family and friends.
We’ve included explanations to help them understand why these gifts are at the top of your wish list.
To nudge people in the right direction, you could send an email with a link to this article and include a note that says something like, “Hello! If a hint would help with your holiday shopping, I want to share my wish list. #1 or #7 in this article would be wonderful!”
10 Thoughtful Holiday Gifts for Caregivers
The best gifts for caregivers make them feel supported and give them well-deserved time off from caregiving.
That way, they can rest, recharge, and have fun. Here are our top 10 holiday gifts for caregivers.
1. Regular breaks
Caring for an older adult can be taxing on the mind and body. What caregivers need most is regular breaks to rest, recharge, and take care of their own health.
A fantastic gift would be to commit to helping with caregiving tasks regularly.
That could mean one weekend every few months, one day a month, three hours each week, or two hours every other week—whatever you can commit to will be a big help.
If you can’t help in person, consider a gift card to help pay for in-home care or respite care for their older adult, so they can still get some time off.
Or, you could make regular telephone or video calls to the older adult for extended periods to give the caregiver a break.
2. Set up a series of coffee dates
Being a caregiver is lonely and isolating. After the holidays, don’t disappear into your own busy life.
Set up a schedule for regular coffee or tea dates to continue showing your support throughout the year.
If you’re in the area, take them to their favorite coffee shop or have them bring their favorite beverage to the house.
If you live far away, give them a gift card to a local coffee shop, like Starbucks, and make a phone date so they can sip their favorite drink while you catch up.
While you’re chatting, don’t forget to ask how the caregivers are doing. See if you can figure out how to help in other ways, rather than waiting for them to ask.
You could also gift them with a new coffee maker, their favorite coffee, or their favorite tea so they can make their favorite beverages at home.
3. Relaxation and pampering
Caregivers are usually in permanent stress mode, so they could always use a little help to relax.
A spa or massage gift certificate is an excellent way to de-stress and loosen tense muscles. Spafinder is a convenient way to find local spas and buy gift certificates.
You could even take this gift to the next level by adding something extra.
If they can’t leave the house because no one else is available to care for their older adult, it could be difficult for them to use your gift.
Volunteer to help out while they’re getting pampered, or include a gift card to help pay for in-home care.
Or, if they prefer to relax at home, consider gifting a relaxing heated back and neck massager, a heated massage pillow, or a targeted, wearable, hands-free heated neck massager.
4. Home-cooked meals
Eating nutritiously is a time- and energy-consuming task. Taking meal prep off a busy caregiver’s to-do list is a wonderful gift!
Load up their freezer with home-cooked meals that can be easily reheated.
5. A nice meal out
Another great present for caregivers is a gift certificate to their favorite restaurant.
A fantastic accompaniment to this gift is to take care of their older adult (or pay for caregiving help) so they have the chance to leave the house to enjoy a nice meal.
Or, you could get them a gift certificate for a local restaurant that provides delivery service or a gift certificate to a service like Uber Eats, Grubhub, or Doordash that delivers take-out from their favorite restaurants.
6. A cleaning service for their own home
Cleaning often gets pushed to the bottom of a caregiver’s to-do list, but living in a dirty house is uncomfortable or relaxing.
Arrange for a cleaning service or roll up your sleeves and do some cleaning yourself to take this chore off their list.
Or, you could also gift them a robot vacuum cleaner that will keep the floors clean.
7. A well-maintained home with a handyman visit
Whether it’s mowing the lawn, fixing a slow drain, or getting leaves out of the gutter, household chores always need to be done.
As your gift, complete these chores yourself or hire a handyman.
Make this an ongoing gift and commit to helping with a few chores every month or hiring a regular service.
8. Encouragement and support to pursue hobbies
Many caregivers immerse themselves entirely in caring for an older adult that they lose touch with their interests.
Please encourage them to regularly pursue those hobbies by giving gifts related to their non-caregiving interests.
We don’t want to sound like a broken record, but the best part of the gift would be to help them get time off from caregiving so they can do something fun.
If you’re nearby, visit with the older adult so the caregiver can pursue their interests.
Or, offer to telephone or video call the older adult to keep them company, so the caregiver can spend time enjoying their hobby.
9. Stress management through journaling
Writing in a journal is a surprisingly effective way to reduce caregiver stress. Gifting them a beautiful or inspiring journal is a great way to encourage this therapeutic activity.
We especially like the Instant Happy Journal and these wonderful inspirational journals.
10. Relaxation with yoga
Yoga is good for the body and the mind. It helps press pause on the troubles of the day and encourages caregivers to clear their minds and stay in the present moment.
A wonderful gift would be a yoga mat and gift certificate to a local yoga studio, or a yoga mat and instructional yoga video (like this one) that they can use at home.
Next Step Check out our gift guide with 23 practical luxuries caregivers will love
Recommended for you:
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- 50 Best Gifts for Seniors: Things You’ve Never Thought Of
- 38 Great Gifts for Senior Men
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About the Author
Connie Chow
Connie was a hands-on caregiver for her grandmother for 20 years. (Grandma made it to 101 years old!) She knows how challenging, overwhelming, and all-consuming caring for an older adult can be. She also knows how important support is — especially in the form of practical solutions, valuable resources, and self-care tips.
Thanks for this. I run a small gifting business but sometimes it’s easy to neglect the fact that you can provide gifting in many ways that doesn’t involve spending – especially in the current climate.
I take care of husband that had seic to the brain I take care of sister in law that have demon and pernat and both are in hospital bed I wash them feed them
I would love to have a gift card for Walmart and someone to bring me a Christmas dinner cooked just to give me a break
Caring for two people at the same time is a tough job. We hope you’re able to get the break you’re looking for over the holidays ❤️