Family Caregiver Resources
If you are unsure about what kind of help you can access in the community when caring for someone, you are among the many British Columbians who find navigating the healthcare system overwhelming and confusing.
Many caregivers find the co-ordination role (like that of a case manager) the most stressful part of caregiving, even though it takes less time than providing personal care or helping with other caregiving tasks. [Read more…]
Family Caregivers of BC is pleased BC’s Seniors Advocate is once again raising the issue of caregiver distress. In the current report “Caregivers in Distress – A Growing Problem”, she points to a 7% increase in the percentage of Home Support clients who have a primary caregiver in distress, which equates to roughly 1,000 caregivers; a 14% increase in actual numbers since her first report “Caregivers in Distress – More Respite Needed” was published in 2015.
These numbers reflect only the caregivers whose care recipients are receiving Home Support services. There are many more caregivers in the community whose loved ones are not Home Support clients. You can read the full report here.
These findings reinforce what we experience daily on the front lines of caregiver support. Call volumes to our Province-wide Caregiver Support Line are growing, and many caregivers are coping with increasingly complex caregiving situations. We are spending more time on each call and many are referred to our 1:1 Caregiver Coaching service to receive in depth support. We’re noting more caregivers are distressed which translates into feelings of depression, confusion, overwhelm, and uncertainty about how they can continue.
We support family caregivers by referring them to caregiver support groups, resources in their local communities, service options from our online resource library, our quarterly newsletter, and our educational webinars. We also provide assistance in setting up peer led caregiver support groups.
It is our mandate to ensure no one provides care alone. We work hard to ensure the voice of family caregivers is represented in health system design and implementation, and that health care providers are aware of important role they can play in identifying and referring family caregivers to our services.
My Dad is 95 years old and honestly, some days I can’t believe he is still alive. I’m his only daughter and caregiver. I’ve been looking after him for 4 years now. In those years, we’ve had pneumonia, a broken hip and a stroke. What I’ve really learned is there are always unexpected challenges. I kept thinking that if we got over the bump in the road, the caregiving would get easier, until I figured out that there would always be another bump in the road.”
Caregiving isn’t easy. Some days it might feel like boot camp. Other days, you expect things to be hard and you breeze right through them. The bottom line: caregiving is unique to all families. It’s likely that you’ll experience changes in your relationships with spouses/partners siblings, children, and mostly, the person you’re caring for. You can also expect some strong feelings to surface. Mostly, caregivers are surprised by the number of challenges they face or ones they didn’t expect. [Read more…]
I suspect the majority of parents with school-aged children across the province are silently cheering about the start of the school year. Yes, I am one of those parents. My daughter is going into Grade 5 and although we’ve had a marvellous summer filled with many amazing adventures, it will be nice to get back to our routine. [Read more…]
Featured this month in Inspired Senior Living, this is the story of a family honouring their mother by finding a creative way to to support the people they are caring for with alternate housing arrangements and the outdoors.
Read it here.