Free training to do this work better.
No one teaches you how to safely lift an adult who can’t stand on their own, how to manage someone else’s medications without making a mistake, or how to handle a behavior you’ve never seen before. These free training resources do, and they’re built specifically for family caregivers, not professionals.
National video libraries and courses
These are open to anyone in the U.S. No membership, no geography requirement.
Family Caregiver Alliance, Caregiver College video series
Short, practical videos demonstrating real skills: transferring a loved one safely in and out of bed or a car, bathing and dressing, dental care, toileting and incontinence, nutrition, dealing with difficult behaviors, and caregiver self-care. Each video is a few minutes and watchable on a phone. caregiver.org
mmLearn.org
A free library of hundreds of caregiver training videos run by Morningside Ministries, a Texas nonprofit. Originally built to train professional caregivers, opened to the public for free. Strong on dementia behaviors, medication management, fall prevention, hospice basics, elder law overviews, wound care, and condition-specific guidance. mmlearn.org
AARP Home Alone Alliance, instructional videos
Free instructional videos created by the AARP Public Policy Institute together with the UC Davis School of Nursing and other partners. Cover the medical and nursing tasks family caregivers commonly find themselves doing: wound care, complex medication routines, mobility, incontinence, pain management, and special diets. Many are available in English and Spanish. aarp.org/pri/initiatives/home-alone-alliance
CareAcademy, Essential Skills for Family Caregivers (free on Udemy)
A free 30-minute video course covering the basics: handwashing and infection control, helping with bathing and dressing, proper body mechanics for transferring, getting a loved one safely in and out of a vehicle, and mealtime assistance. CareAcademy normally builds curriculum for professional home-care workers; this is their free family-caregiver version. udemy.com (CareAcademy Essential Skills for Family Caregivers)
Alison, free caregiving courses
Structured, module-by-module courses with quizzes and tracked progress. Topics include caregiving fundamentals, dementia care, and Alzheimer’s care. The learning material is free to enroll, study, and complete. Alison does charge a fee if you want to download an official certificate at the end, but the knowledge is free. alison.com
YouTube channels worth following
If you’d rather subscribe to ongoing content than work through a structured course, these channels are run by recognized experts and post regularly. Practical caregiving topics, in short watchable videos, free.
Family Caregiver Alliance
The Caregiver College video series mentioned above lives here, alongside FCA’s broader library of recorded webinars, interviews with experts, and condition-specific content. youtube.com/@CAREGIVERdotORG
Dementia Careblazers
Dr. Natali Edmonds is a board-certified geropsychologist who posts weekly videos with practical, psychology-based strategies for families caring for someone with any form of dementia (Alzheimer’s, Lewy body, vascular, frontotemporal, and others). One of the most consistently useful free resources online for dementia caregivers specifically. youtube.com/c/DementiaCareblazers
Teepa Snow’s Positive Approach to Care
Teepa Snow is a dementia-care education specialist with nearly 40 years of clinical experience. Her channel focuses on how to communicate with and respond to someone living with dementia, with concrete techniques she demonstrates on camera. Particularly strong on the everyday moments that don’t have an obvious right answer. Teepa Snow’s PAC on YouTube
Beyond these three, the national condition-specific nonprofits (Alzheimer’s Association, Parkinson’s Foundation, ALS Association, and so on) have their own YouTube channels with patient and caregiver content. Searching YouTube for the name of the condition plus the word “caregiver” usually surfaces them.
Find training where you live
Some of the best caregiver training is local: free in-person and Zoom-based classes run through your state’s Area Agency on Aging, or condition-specific programs from a local Alzheimer’s Association chapter. One phone number gets you to the right person.
Eldercare Locator
1-800-677-1116, or eldercare.acl.gov. A free federal service that connects you to your local Area Agency on Aging, which runs most of the publicly funded family caregiver programs in your area. Ask them about Powerful Tools for Caregivers, an evidence-based six-week series available in many regions, focused on stress reduction, decision-making, and navigating the healthcare system.