National Family Caregivers Month

National Family Caregivers Month is designated as a time to thank, support, educate, and empower family caregivers.

 

Personally, it's a time to take a deep breath and take pride in accomplishments within my own family. Being a caregiver at home consumes an enormous portion of the "life" half of my work-life balancing act. My wife and I made the commitment in 2000 to make a difference in the life of an unfortunate child in the custody of Children's Aid. We have persevered through enormous mental health and physical challenges.

 

Today, we are very proud of what our child has accomplished, but we also will pause to acknowledge the difficult times we have, and will continue to experience as part of this commitment.

 

And we officially joined the "sandwich" generation recently as an elder now lives with dementia.

 

We know we are not alone with these struggles, which is why this is a very poignant month to be acknowledged. 

Sources indicate that there are around 6.1 million family caregivers in Canada who must balance their personal commitments, caregiving duties and work responsibilities for chronically ill, with disability, or aged family members or friends during any given year. Family caregivers are the invisible back bone of our health care system and provide over 80 percent of the care needed by individuals with long-term conditions. Today, 35% of the Canadian workforce are family caregivers. 

Over 50% of employee caregivers are between the ages of 45 to 65, in their peak earning years with valuable skills and experience. They provide between 16 to 28 hours of care per month over the course of 3 years. It is estimated that family caregivers contribute $25–30 billion dollars of unpaid care every year. As the time and physical demands experience as a caregiver are often equivalent to working two full-time jobs, family caregivers can experience negative effect on their financial, emotional and personal well-being. These negative consequences of not supporting family caregivers will not only be felt by the family caregivers and patients, but also to the Canadian employers and our economy (Schizophrenia.ca, 2015).

Below is a list of a few vital reminders to keep in mind when you are a caregiver or supporting a caregiver.

1.    Seek support from other caregivers. You are not alone!

2.    Take care of your own health so that you can be strong enough to take care of your loved one.

3.    Accept offers of help and suggest specific things people can do to help you.

4.    Learn how to communicate effectively with doctors.

5.    Caregiving is hard work so take respite breaks often.

6.    Watch out for signs of depression and don't delay in getting professional help when you need it.

7.    Be open to new technologies that can help you care for your loved one.

8.    Organize medical information so it's up to date and easy to find.

9.    Make sure legal documents are in order.

10.      Give yourself credit for doing the best you can in one of the toughest jobs there is!

For your own Family Caregiver Toolbox click here! Feel free to share with any family caregivers you know!

October is Patient-Centered Care Month

Patient-Centered Care Awareness Month is an awareness-building campaign commemorated globally every October to engage all healthcare stakeholders in adopting and advancing patient-centered approaches to care (Planetree.org, 2015). 

 

But what is Patient-Centered Care exactly? The IOM (Institute of Medicine) defines patient-centered care as: "Providing care that is respectful of and responsive to individual patient preferences, needs, and values, and ensuring that patient values guide all clinical decisions." 

 

It has also been described as an approach to care that is 1) organized around the needs of the patient; and 2) promotes relationships between patients, their families and their healthcare teams that nurture trust, transparency and collaboration (Planetree.org, 2015). 

 

Here at The Royal our mandate is simple: to get more people living with mental illness into recovery faster. By practicing patient-centered care, we are able to fulfill our mandate every day!

 

During the month of October I'll share with you some of the ways we maintain our alignment with patients/clients because that is the key toward ensuring we are truly providing Patient-Centered Care.

 

Share your thoughts; what does Patient-Centered Care look like at your organization?

 

 



September 2015 National Recovery Month

 

 September serves as a month to educate people on the advancements of treatments for individuals with addiction and mental health issues.

 

 It is also a time for us to recognize the gains that have been made by people who live in recovery. Just as we recognize those managing other conditions such as diabetes, heart disease or a physical ailment, this month is dedicated to bringing awareness to the ‘positive message that behavioral health is essential to overall health, prevention works, treatment is effective, and people can and do recover’(NCADD, 2015).

 We asked some mental health staff and clients what their understanding of living in recovery is. You may be interested to hear what they had to say:

 

 

 'Living in recovery is a long process…All the work to get to this place is done by yourself; only you are responsible. Recovery is part of rehabilitation.' Client perspective

 

"Living in recovery is really living while acknowledging the fact you need some extra help. We could all use some extra help. It is essential to acknowledge that some mental health issues may be a lifelong process and we must help people who are in recovery to develop a sense of empowerment and confidence." Staff perspective 

 

There are millions of people living in recovery. September is about getting out there and educating others about recovery.

Join us in celebrating National Recovery Month everyone!

Recognition Helps Us Recognize We Can Do More

  Our Chief-of-Psychiatry, Dr. Raj Bhatla is deservedly recognized as a Clinical Champion of Telemedicine in Ontario. He's the most recent in a short line of people I've been inspired to work with in the Telemedicine path of my career.

 

And egad - next year I'll be quietly celebrating 20 years in Telemedicine development. During a brief conversation with a peer from the Ontario Telemedicine Network I realized a large portion of my vision in 1996 is a reality today. But as friends, regional partners and network colleagues gathered to celebrate, another highlight of the day was the revelation that there is still so much more we can accomplish.

The canvas of mental health care in 2002 seemed limited to eight colors. We can work with so much more today. A simple lunch hour with partners revealed potential to serve clients we may have overlooked over the past few years of rapid development.

And Telemedicine technology is now moving beyond what I saw in my crystal ball in 1996.

Our regional mental health care partners from across Eastern Ontario shed new light on patient treatment needs that remain untapped by our program today. Our team was energized emotionally with the prospect of exciting new Telemedicine development tasks for the summer and fall of 2015.

None of this may have happened if we had not paused to celebrate our accomplishments, even for two hours of a typical mid-week workday. For that we thank the team at Ontario Telemedicine Network. And again extend our gratitude and congratulations to our clinical champion, Dr. Bhatla.

It reminds us as leaders in this field that pausing to reflect and recognize often sheds light on new routes to travel.

As per our blog policy - the opinions and comments in this article represent those of the author and should not be considered representative of the ROHCG.

 

Appraisals - Who Serves First

 When a Performance Appraisal is scheduled at this organization (based on date-of-hire) it unfolds like a tennis match. Tasks are volleyed back-and-forth with the most important step, the vital employee-manager conversation situated in the middle of the exercise.

  The first serve goes to the employee, directing them to go to the online form and reflect on their skills, performance and achievements, and aligning them with the organization's core competencies. When completed, the assignment and form are lobbed over to the manager.

  I confess to being a bit surprised by some staff who thought this task order put them at a disadvantage.

  The tennis serve usually provides an advantage to the server, dictating speed, location, strategy for the competitive point. The Performance Appraisal isn't a competition, but completing the Self-Assessment before the manager is an opportunity to set the tone for the appraisal.

  Imaging what goes through a manager's mind when he sees the following:

• Each competency contains feedback journal notes from grateful clients and professional colleagues
• Each competency contains ideas for development plans that ensure the employee continues to develop their core skills and adapts to ongoing changes
• Comments sections are reflective and proactive, making it clear that the employee takes this assessment opportunity seriously and constructively

  I expect a good manager would dial up the commitment level to match that of the employee!

  Conversely, if the employee has quickly made the rating scale selection and hit the complete button, the manager could interpret that this feedback and reflection opportunity are nothing more than a distraction.

  Point-opportunity lost!

  The time spent with staff, introducing the system has been very rewarding. It has confirmed what they told us in our bi-annual Employee Engagement surveys:

• They want more feedback
• Many don't feel their efforts are recognized and valued
• The lack of feedback eliminates most desires to give that extra discretionary effort that they still have at their disposal

  Staff often confess to feeling like the underdog in the Performance Appraisal. Serving first gives them an opportunity to make this exercise an adult-to-adult exchange of perspectives, reflection, anticipation, and recognition.

As per our blog policy - the opinions and comments in this article represent those of the author and should not be considered representative of the ROHCG.