The Angry Caregiver

  I tell my story of family caregiving to make sense of the baffling experience of providing family caregiving infrastructure in an inadequately understood health system. It isn't that we begrudge the opportunity to take care of our frail, elder. It is that we cannot fathom the logic that puts both our frail elder and our family care infrastructure in jeopardy. The more successful we are at looking after Mom, the longer she lives and enjoys her life at home. The longer she lives, the more our family caregiving resources are depleted.  The work of caregiving is deeply personal and intimate. The caregiver is providing support for the body, mind and spirit of their care recipient. They are managing the medical, social, familial, legal, financial, and physical dimensions of the world of their care recipient. They are entrusted with this care, often with inadequate preparation and insufficient supports. There is a catastrophic disconnect between government and health system leaders...

Work in progress - dispatch from the front line. Today I am going to open the tax credit application form from the Canada Revenue Agency for families providing caregiving to family members unable to care for themselves. This is the t2201-22e form - Disability Tax Credit Certificate. It is my first time going through the form. My instructions from Mom's GP is to fill out my notes for the information he will need to complete his section, too, as I am the one who has the most information about what Mom needs on a day to day basis. This is a 16 page form. Part A - Individual's section asks for information about the person with the disability and the person claiming the disability amount. Part B - Medical Practitioner's section asks for information describing the severity and frequency of the care recipient's impairment Vision Speaking Hearing Walking Eliminating Feeding Dressing Mental Functions Cumulative Effect of Significant Limitations Life Sustaining Therapy We started...