Family Caregivers BC

Family Caregiver Resources

Power of Attorney: Even a Good Caregiver Can Make Mistakes!

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Susan was thankful her mother Catherine had prepared a Power of Attorney because that meant that after Catherine’s accident, Susan was able to step in and help Catherine with her finances.  The accident left Catherine unable to leave the house and it had also affected her mentally – many days Catherine just wasn’t herself.  She wasn’t able to pay her bills anymore or balance her cheque book.  Susan did her mother’s banking, took her to the doctor, arranged to have her bills paid, shopped for her groceries and arranged for a cleaning lady and a companion to come in from time to time.

To make it easier to do those things, Susan periodically transferred funds from her mother’s account into Susan’s own account so she could pay the bills online.  Susan was careful with Catherine’s money.  She found an acquaintance of her mothers who offered to do cleaning and spend time as a companion for a really low fee.  The friend would periodically let Susan know the time spent and she paid cash by making cash withdrawals from Catherine’s account.  Catherine really liked the friend as a companion and having someone come in to clean was so helpful.

After a time, it became clear that Susan’s business needed an injection of cash.  Since Susan was such a great help, Catherine wanted to help her.  On one of her mentally alert days, Catherine suggested Susan take a gift of money to help out with the business.  At first Susan didn’t want to take the gift but after some convincing, she agreed.  Susan wrote a cheque from Catherine’s account to herself for the money, signing in her capacity as attorney.  She made sure to write “gift from mom” on the cheque to clearly document it.  After a time, both Catherine and Susan agreed that Susan should be paid a small monthly fee for all the extra work she was doing for Catherine as her attorney.

Catherine was happy and it seemed the arrangement was working perfectly.  Susan thought so too.  Can you spot 5 problem areas in the way that Susan has been using her Power of Attorney authority?  Keep reading to see the problem areas:

  1. section 19(4) of the Power of Attorney Act specifies that a representative must keep the adult’s property separate from her own property so Susan should not transfer money into her own account each month, even if she was keeping proper records.
  2. by doing a “cash deal” with the friend to save Catherine money, Susan is opening herself up to risk because without receipts she isn’t able to document the expense and Susan may be unable to prove that the cash withdrawals were being used for Catherine’s benefit. If the bank statements were examined, it would look to an outsider that Susan was helping herself to Catherine’s money.  Susan could be found liable for those funds.
  3. section 20 of the Power of Attorney Act specifies that unless there is a specific clause in the Power of Attorney document permitting Susan to make a gift to herself, she is not allowed to do so. Susan should carefully read the Power of Attorney Document before taking any kind of a gift to make sure the power exists in the document.  Even then, Susan must make sure that the gift does not negatively impact Catherine’s financial situation.
  4. section 24 of the Power of Attorney Act specifies that unless the Power of Attorney document authorizes the payment of compensation to the attorney, the attorney is not allowed to take a fee for acting for the adult. Susan should carefully read the Power of Attorney Document before taking any kind of fee to make sure the power exists in the document.
  5. Susan should carefully review the Power of Attorney document to make sure it is what is called an “Enduring Power of Attorney”. If Catherine’s Power of Attorney document is not an Enduring Power of Attorney, then it automatically ends when Catherine becomes mentally incapable.  If Susan continues to use the power after Catherine is mentally incapable, then she is in breach of the rules.

For more information on Powers of Attorney, see “Role and Responsibilities of an Attorney” by Nidus

Amy-Alexandra Jaworsky is a Victoria lawyer practicing in the areas of wills, probate, residential real estate and corporate matters.  amy@viclawfirm.ca / 250.382.9282

COVID-19 Virus Safety

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Concerned about the COVID-19 virus? A caregiver’s role may increase or intensify through this time. Please remember you are welcome to call our Caregiver Support Line Monday-Friday 8:30am to 4pm. 1-877-520-3267. Let Us Help.

We are providing information and resources to support and protect our staff, volunteers, clients and community. We greatly appreciate the measures that individuals and communities are taking to remain healthy and safe. FCBC staff are monitoring COVID-19 information and taking guidance on health matters from our federal, provincial and local health authorities. Also read the latest enews from FCBC here.

We encourage you to follow the links below and refer to official sources for the latest updates on COVID-19. The main message for everyone is to stay home or social distance by 2 metres and clean your hands often with soap and water or hand sanitizer. If you are the main caregiver to someone it is important to consider support options if you are experiencing virus systems, such as fever, sore throat, cough, fatigue or muscle aches. Refer to the BC Self Assessment Tool below. Please reach out to your support network or resources to plan ahead.

Key Information on COVID-19 can be found at the links below:

  • Gov of Canada – How to Care for a Person with COVID-19 at Home – Advice for Caregivers here
  • Gov of Canada – How to Self Isolate When you May have been exposed and Have No Symptoms here
  • For up to date information from the Government of Canada   https://www.canada.ca/en.html
  • COVID-19 BC Self Assessment Tool – BC’s self-assessment tool for #COVID19 is now online and will help determine if you need further assessment or testing. You can complete this assessment for yourself, or on behalf of someone else, if they are unable to.    https://covid19.thrive.health/
  • COVID-19 line at 1-888-COVID19 or text at 1-888-268-4319. The toll-free phone line is open at 1-888-268-4319 (1-888-COVID19) between 7:30 a.m. and 8 p.m. seven days a week for non-medical information about the virus. That includes the latest information on travel recommendations and social distancing, as well as access to support and services from the provincial and federal governments
  • Canada’s COVID-19 Economic Response Plan here
  • BC Centre for Disease Control for any current information on prevention, testing and self isolation.
  • please check with your Health Authority here

Other useful information can be found below:

coronavirus-know the facts english (002)

Technology Resources for Caregivers

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Although 71 per cent of caregivers are interested in using technology to support their caregiving tasks, only seven per cent are using care-related technology, according to AARP’s 2016 Caregiving and Technology study.

Fifty-eight per cent of the caregivers surveyed in a 2018 survey by the Change Foundation said they used the internet for gathering additional information on how to properly care for their loved one. Only 28 per cent turned to formal care providers.

[Read more…]

Grants available for family and friend caregiver support programs in BC

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How could caregivers in your community benefit from more support? What is your vision for caring for caregivers? We want to help you bring your program to life by supporting you to submit a grant proposal for funding from BC’s Ministry of Health.

In partnership with the United Way of the Lower Mainland and the CBSS Leadership Council, Family Caregivers of BC is launching a new initiative to help bring more local support to family and friend caregivers in approximately 20 British Columbia communities.

Following local, regional and provincial consultations, an emergent theme was the growing number of older adults who want to continue to live in their own homes but are challenged with limited access to community-based support programs that are integrated with primary health care services. Our goal is to address this gap by helping those leading impactful initiatives and encouraging new partnerships that lead to more integrated, family-centred health and social services across the province gain access to potential funding opportunities.

The BC Ministry of Health has provided funding to support the delivery of these demonstration projects over a 2.5 year period, from January 2020 to June 2022. Within this funding is The Family & Friend Caregiver Support Program stream, which will fund demonstration projects that focus on supporting family and friends who provide unpaid care for someone living in the community with higher needs – chronic disease, frailty or life-limiting conditions. Broadly, projects aim to enhance caregiver wellbeing by increasing skills, knowledge, confidence, and inclusion as partners in care. Projects will support caregivers to build strong networks and effective connections with their health care teams to anticipate and respond to changes in health status over time – theirs and/or the person they are caring for. Services under these projects can include individualized one-to-one emotional support, peer support, information and referral to community services, navigation assistance, and access to education and coaching.

Family Caregivers of BC (FCBC) will support projects via information, consultation, training, evaluation, and ongoing collaboration. We will help grantees design and implement processes and activities that fit each community.

Interested? Here’s how it works

Grant applications are open now! Submit yours by July 31, 2019 through the United Way’s Health Aging CORE website.

  1. You will need to sign up as a CORE member (it may take a few days to receive your confirmation).
  2. Review information about the program. Access the information needed and application via the “Funding Information” tab. Look for “Integrated Community-Based Programs for Older Adults with Higher Needs Grants Streams – Grant Call”. You will also find: the grant information session webinar recording, the webinar PowerPoint slides, the grant call document, application template, FAQs, eAccess sign-up form and other supporting resources. Please review all the documents!
  3. Ask questions in the CORE “Discussion Group,” an open discussion forum. Join each group to access the related grant discussion. Please allow up to seven days for a response.

If you wish to speak directly about the Family & Friend Caregiver Support Programs, please contact:

Whitney McMillan, Provincial Projects Lead, Family Caregivers of BC, 604-880-0351 or whitneymcmillan@familycaregiversbc.ca

Note: all questions will be posted to the grant ‘Discussion Group’ on the CORE website.

Other funding streams available

There are two other funding streams available under this program:

Social Prescribing for Older Adults at Risk of Frailty

This funding stream supports primary care physicians and other health practitioners to identify seniors at risk of frailty, support them to develop a wellness plan, and link them with community-based seniors’ support services. Demonstration projects funded through this call for proposals are encouraged to build on the Community Actions and Resources Empowering Seniors (CARES) project currently being piloted in Fraser Health and other best practice approaches for social prescribing. The CARES approach partners pre-frail older adults with primary care providers and community-trained lay wellness coaches. Note that this grant stream is not open to communities within the Fraser Health region (since this is the site of the current pilot project).

Structured Programs for Higher Needs and Home Bound Older Adults

This funding stream is a multi-faceted prevention-oriented program designed to support seniors who are homebound, to delay their use of health services (e.g. adult day care, assisted living and complex care), and to instead be supported in community for as long as possible. Demonstration projects will build on the Therapeutic Activation Program for Seniors (TAPS), a wellness program located in Creston, BC that supports isolated seniors who are experiencing barriers in accessing community resources. Programs will include proactive outreach through daily/weekly telephone calls to participants, transportation to and from the program, a nutritious meal, and exercise/education/ recreational activities tailored to the needs of different individuals within the program (e.g. activities appropriate to male participants, people from different cultural communities, people living with dementia, people with mobility impairments).

Find out more at the United Way of the Lower Mainland’s Healthy Aging CORE website.

Accessing Community Resources

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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…]