By Vince Terstappen, Project Assistant with the health promotions team at Northern Health When you walk into Sport Chek in Smithers and see Jesse Clegg unpacking garments and hanging gear, you may not realize the significance of that moment. You may not realize the number of people, programs, time, and advocacy that created that moment.
Blog
Personal Planning Documents: Representation Agreements and Enduring Powers of Attorney
By Vienna Kappell, Notary Public for Notaries on Douglas, Victoria, BC In British Columbia, there are two key personal planning documents: Enduring Powers of Attorney and Representation Agreements. An Enduring Power of Attorney deals strictly with financial and legal matters while a Representation Agreement may deal with personal and health care matters and or legal […]
Turning plans into action
Many caregivers acknowledge the importance of caring for themselves yet, in another breath, we hear them use statements such as, “I feel overwhelmed,” “I’m stressed out,” “I’m too busy to eat, let alone find time to stay healthy,” or “there are so many things to do, how can I make time for myself?” Firstly, self-care […]
Advance Care Planning—A Work in Progress
By Rachel Carter For many of us, picking out a birthday gift for a loved one is a difficult task if we don’t know what they want. Imagine trying to make decisions on their behalf about their healthcare needs. The concept of Advance Care Planning resonated with me as soon as I heard about it. […]
The ins and outs of hiring private care
In the past few months, Family Caregivers of BC received numerous calls from individuals asking about how to hire private care, through an agency or an independent care provider. Most cases we come across involve care for the elderly. Hiring private care is sometimes an option in other cases involving other disease specific illnesses or […]
Family caregiving and work: find out if help is available
Can you imagine trying to meet your work commitments while fulfilling your caregiving responsibilities? Maybe you already are. If so, you’re definitely not alone.
Advance Care Planning is for All of Us
“It does not do to leave a live dragon out of your calculations, if you live near him.” ― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit This quote reminds me of my mom. No, she wasn’t a dragon. Not in the literal sense anyway (I am in so much trouble when she reads this!). She did, however, drill the importance […]
Navigating the health care system is far from smooth sailing
Mr. Jones is an 83-year-old widower living in his own home. When asked, he’ll tell you he is doing “fair to middling”. He’ll go on to tell you his legs are tired and wobbly and he doesn’t get out as much as he used to.
Boundary setting for family caregivers
“Sure Mom, I’ll help.” As soon as I spoke the words, my internal thought was, “I do not have time or energy for this! Why did I agree to help?” Sometimes we just say yes automatically. We feel emotionally tied to a situation or we feel an enormous amount of guilt and before we even think what […]
How to help your kids cope with their grandparent’s death
Grandparents play a vital role in families: as family caregivers to young children while Mom and/or Dad work, receiving care from their grandchildren and at times moving to live with adult children. A recent report from The Vanier Institute of the Family highlighted the following statistics: