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!