Caregiver question.

The main reason caregivers over share is that they want something, be that a free cruise, your will, moving in their family, and so forth.

Yes, we had one lady who was really talkative. She did her job and she did it well, but boy we sure knew a lot about her life. It didn't bother my parents, I think they viewed her life like a soap opera wondering what was going to happen next. I didn't say anything to her because things were going along very well. I think she provided a welcome distraction for my parents from their own problems.

If you don't want to take the direct approach, you can do something called "extinguishing" her behavior. Whenever this person starts in on an unwanted topic, you simply don't respond directly to it but rather change the subject matter to something neutral. You don't acknowledge what they just said, even if they repeat or return to it. Just smile and change the subject. When you do it a couple of times, they should get the hint. Just keep redirecting the conversation. This worked like a charm with my MIL who only wanted to talk about her health or what a jerk her husband is. I got a weird look from her when I first did it, then she gave up and stopped bringing up those 2 topics completely.

It is unprofessional to bring personal problems into work. Yet, people will do it.

You don’t have a friendship with this person. They are an employee.

I would tell them in a polite way that they are there to help you by doing what they were hired to do.

It’s up to you if you want to offer support to them by suggesting that they speak about their issues with a therapist.

If you have NAMI in your area you might pass along their phone number to them.

Best wishes to you.

I would tell your caregiver that this is inappropriate, discussing personal issues while caregiving with either the patient or the family.
This is honestly quite common. Many caregivers are of another culture, sometimes latinex and sometimes filipino, where the open sharing of so much family history is common. They will understand and honor your wishes in most cases if you make them known.

Simply say "I honestly am overwhelmed with my own family's concerns right now. I know you will sympathize when I tell you I cannot right now be concerned with your own family concerns. Thank you for understanding this and honoring our request that you don't share personal matters with us at this time".

Honestly is ALWAYS the best policy in these matters.