A Caregiver was a female Chiss assigned to take care of ozyly-esehembos, or sky-walkers in Cheunh. Originally, all caregivers were former ozyly-esehembos, though that practice eventually faded away. Mitth'ali'astov served as the Caregiver to Che'ri while aboard the Springhawk, and was the first former sky-walker in at least a hundred years to become a caregiver. Che'ri called her caregiver a "momish."
Originally, all caregivers were former sky-walkers. This practice stopped at least a hundred years before 19 BBY. Caregiver Thalias assumed the reason no former sky-walkers went on to become caregivers was because they leave the sky-walker corps exhausted. However, after meeting with Borika, a sky-walker researcher and former sky-walker, Thalias realized the real reason that former sky-walkers were discouraged from becoming caregivers was to prevent caregivers and sky-walkers from comparing notes and realize they both have the same memory loss as the result of their childhood memories being wiped. The process, known as fading, was introduced to prevent young sky-walkers from being distracted from their training by homesickness.
Caregivers were responsible for giving classes to the sky-walkers under their care, as well as feeding and bathing them. Caregivers are also responsible for procuring recreational supplies and clothing for their sky-walkers, for which they have a fairly unlimited budget.
Caregivers accompanied ozyly-esehembos on their journeys, often with the Chiss Expansionary Defense Fleet, though both were considered civilians. While outside of the military chain of command, caregivers have the authority to give orders even to the captain in situations involving the welfare of the sky-walker. The pairing between sky-walkers and caregivers was not permanent, with Che'ri having had eight different caregivers before Thlias was assigned to her. The assignment of new caregivers often caused additional emotional stress on sky-walkers.
Most caregivers do not stay on the bridge while their sky-walker navigates the hyperspace, with Thalias being the exception. While the ship was in combat, the caregiver and her sky-walker would be escorted back to the safety of their suite. If a quick withdrawal into hyperspace was needed, they could be placed in the ship's secondary command instead.
Thalias believes that many caregivers do not truly understand the mental and physical burden of the sky-walkers, as they have never experienced life as a sky-walkers themselves, and many caregivers were just "going through the motions", giving little to no emotional support to their assigned sky-walkers. Che'ri was thankful for Thalias as she understood the overloading spell caused by extended use of third sight, something none of her previous caregivers understood, with one even gotten angry with her.
The title Caregiver first appeared on the novel, Thrawn Ascendancy: Chaos Rising by Timothy Zahn. In Thrawn Ascendancy: Greater Good, an error calls a caregiver, Thalias, a caretaker. Which was an error.