Sharing the workload

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Invisible no more

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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...
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Exploited - 2024 06 04

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The convenient rationale for shifting caregiving to family homes is that it 'costs less'. This is a false claim that perpetrates a healthcare system that is exploiting family caregivers. Family caregivers are typically exhausted and burned out. They feel exploited by the healthcare system because their time and material costs are not acknowledged or compensated anywhere near approaching their actual expenditures.  To access any supports, they have to add work to their already over-extended schedule to research, make applications, provide documentation, etc. The value of supports is eroded by the cost of accessing them. Family caregivers feel taken advantage because their time and material expenditures are not tracked or accounted in the health care system. They are assumed to give their resources to the care of a family member as an individual choice, rather than a collective, community responsibility. However, there is no real choice, because the alternative to their family ca...
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Ideas to help Family Caregivers

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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...
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