The Angry Caregiver

CCCE - Giving Care - An approach to a better caregiving landscape in Canada (2022) "To properly support caregivers and care providers, public policy needs to consider caregivers and care providers as relevant partners in health and social services. This will require more than just a shift in perspective; it will require bold public policy solutions to address the problems facing caregivers and care providers." If we are going to propose bold public policy solutions to address the problems facing caregivers and care providers, we really need to understand and quantify the work that is being done. At present there is no quantified data representing the work and cost provided by family caregivers when they take responsibility for providing a bed and care infrastructure to a loved one. There is no comparative data to look at the quality of care in-home compared to the quality of care in an institution. There is no longitudinal study looking at the life expectancy of loved ones ca...

CCCE - Giving Care - An approach to a better caregiving landscape in Canada (2022) It is confusing to use the name 'caregiving' to refer to both work and role. Caregivers (role) and care providers (role) experience caregiving (work) as a rewarding and challenging experience. What is the work of caregiving? emotional support to care recipients changing clothes providing transportation managing care networks preparing food The work of caregiving by family caregivers also includes: personal hygiene waste management, including medical waste housekeeping grocery shopping medical appointments, prescriptions, medical equipment nursing facilities maintenance facilities improvements relationship management: family, home support, home support nurses, family doctor, specialists groundskeeping transportation maintenance and repair banking, bill paying tax preparation and filing CCCE states, "For every hour of professional care, caregivers provide three hours of care to family and frie...

CCCE - Giving Care - An approach to a better caregiving landscape in Canada (2022) Key Definitions: Caregiving - providing help or care to another person (does not specify care as service and care as physical infrastructure); Caregiver - an unpaid family member, friend or other support for someone who needs care (the term 'care' is not specified to differentiate or include the provision of care infrastructure ie. bed, furnishings, room, facility, grounds, transportation, etc.); Care provider - trained and paid to provide care - does not specify paid care infrastructure ie. housekeeping, facilities, food / beverage, etc. Care recipient - person receiving care Double duty caregiver - unpaid and paid care service provider What I notice about these definitions is the lack of inclusion of the physical, material and technological dimensions of care - the conditions that provide infrastructure for care work to be executed. When we are talking about Giving Care, we need to ensure we ar...

Mom is reading and writing in her journal this morning. She enjoys reading her own writing. The first step is encouraging her to write out the date on the next empty page. Ideas to help Family Caregivers: 1. A system for automatic membership of Family Caregivers (ie. unfunded, not professional relationship) serving to support a loved one (aka. Care Recipient) so that membership benefits (necessary supports: financial, mental/emotional, physical, educational) flow to the Family Caregiver, they don't have to spend precious time looking for the support they need to do the work; 2. A national online portal for Family Caregivers (think "One Front Door") where they can log in and connect with community, practical supports, mentoring, and socially active educational opportunities; 3. Educational offerings the bring Family Caregivers together into active learning groups, so they can build relationships and build skills, knowledge and experience as a working group; 4. A national e...

This morning I am figuring out how to manage a new wound that has opened up on Mom's right ear.  It appears to be a pressure sore due to Mom spending so much time in bed lately, sleeping on her side. The fact that I have had no training to manage pressure sores is an indicator that there is no formal acknowledgement of the work I am doing. If Mom was in an institution, there would be a trained nurse taking care of this wound.  Why is it ok to have Mom home with me, but it is not considered necessary to train me to manage this kind of predictable condition?  Why, if she is in an institution, it is required that she be attended by trained staff who are paid for the training they have received and paid for the work they are doing? Why, because she is at home, am I left to attend to this wound management without any training?  Why am I not provided training as a matter of routine, knowing that I am taking care of an elder with a high risk for developing pressure injuries...

Mom is learning to use her iPad to have face to face conversations with her children. "I love to hear my children's voices". She is always calm after she spends time with one of her kids. Invisible no more. I am not angry at my Mom. She is aging and losing ground with each passing day. She is aging as gracefully and with as much good humour as she can muster. She works hard to maintain her independence, even as her strength declines, and she copes with more aches and pains. I admire my Mom and I am happy to take care of her. The fact is, though, that I don't have much choice. My Mom is utterly frail and vulnerable. If she was left in the care of an institution, she would not be able to defend herself, or activate necessary services on her own behalf. She would be a dependent of that institution, its policies, its governance, and the ethical and moral values that guide the employees that are paid to provide services to my Mom. My beloved Mother-In-Law was diagnosed wit...