The following articles, resources, and videos are selected for your information and inspiration.
If you are feeling overwhelmed and need to speak to someone, please contact us 1-800-563-5599. we are here to listen and connect you to other resources and support.

Remember, you are not alone.
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The articles below are not in alphabetical order. We add new ones  from the top

Literally, neither here nor there: Caring for aging loved ones from a distance

Webinar Series: Coping with the Fatigues

“Compassion fatigue includes exhaustion around so many emotions and experiences. This  webinar series breaks down compassion fatigue and then offer ways to help you heal.”
We are not our Parent’s Parent

“As our parents age, we may find ourselves struggling to protect their safety without encroaching on their independence.  Oftentimes, this can be a tricky balance.”

Life After Caregiving

“Caregiving is an emotional roller-coaster ride and will continue to be even after the caregiving journey ends.”

What is Compassion Fatigue?

How to talk to your employer about caregiving

What I learned from being a caregiver

“One day I was busy driving my mom to a radiation oncology doctor’s appointment and we were running 15 minutes late. I was stressing out because it took my dad 30 minutes to put on his shirt and he literally thought he was the King of England.”

How has caregiving changed you?

“How do you know you’re a caregiver? It’s tricky to decide — how many hours? What sorts of tasks? What about the relationship?

My answer is that you’re a caregiver when it’s changed you forever.

So, how has caregiving changed who you are and how you view the world?”

What do you wish other people understood about caregiving?

“I hear it all the time: only another caregiver can understand. I asked members of our community for some of the things they wished people who’ve never been a caregiver could understand about the experience.”

Five long-distance caregiving experiences and lessons learned

” I’m no expert in long-distance caregiving but have survived five experiences with family members, where one phone call put me on high-alert and launched me into action. How I helped varied with each person—their life situations, ages, state of health and how close we were. Each time, I learned new skill sets and better ways to cope.”

Reaching out for help: you’ll know when the time is right

“Most caregivers have a specific date when they know they became a caregiver or when their lives changed forever. Mine was on March 18, 2013. I was on my way to work when my cell phone rang.”

Caregiving is hard enough. Isolation can make it unbearable.

“Like so many caregivers, she has discovered that along with the abandoned career, the hands-on tasks, the medical scheduling, the insurance tussles and the disrupted sleep, she faces another trial: social isolation.”

My Mom with Alzheimer’s needed me.  My business did too.

Unexpected and unasked-for lessons in caregiving- in work, life and death.

5 essential parts of successful family caregiver meetings 

“When an older adult needs care, it affects the whole family. That’s why caregiver family meetings are so important.

Without a meeting, the people who aren’t directly involved in caregiving are less likely to help out or do their share. They might not understand the seriousness of the situation or don’t realize how much time, energy, and money is needed.

But having a successful family meeting is easier said than done. You’re bringing together a group of people with different points of view, emotional history, and different communication styles, so having a good meeting takes preparation.”

Watch these documentaries from a caregiver’s perspective

The Caregiver’s Club

The Caregivers’ Club follows three families — their heartbreak, humour and frustration. It’s a devastating but ultimately inspiring journey thousands of families will be forced to take as Canada ages.

They are called the forgotten ones because despite all the media coverage of dementia, those who actually care for loved ones at home, or accompany them through institutional life, are largely ignored or taken for granted. They are the unseen and unsung everyday heroes, who manage in surprising ways, to stay strong and carry on without appreciation from society — or even their own patients.

Much Too Young. The Untold Story of Young Caregivers & Alzheimer’s

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CAREGIVING DURING THE HOLIDAYS: 6 TIPS FOR DEALING WITH DIFFICULT FAMILY

“The holidays can be challenging for caregivers.

Difficult or insensitive family members are especially hard to deal with when you’re already juggling caregiving, work, grief over past losses, and holiday prep.

To help you manage the family issues that are likely to come up during this time, we share tips and suggestions from 6 top articles.

Find out how to reduce stress and anxiety by minimizing surprises, preparing responses to criticism, and planning for difficult conversations.”

Caregivers’ Holiday Survival Guide

“Let’s face it. Caregivers don’t get to participate much in the holidays. While everyone else is planning trips and parties, shopping for gifts or decorating the house, caregivers are still muscling through their daily grind.

If you’re taking care of a parent or loved one, you know what I mean. It’s hard to avoid feeling especially deprived this time of year. Whether you’re sitting in the ER again, dealing with frustrating dementia behaviors, or worrying about your mom’s depression, the misery of it is all just magnified this time of year. One of the hallmarks of caregiving is that it leaves you feeling like you’re missing out. Missing out on fun everyone else is having, missing out on your old life – before you were a caregiver. Of course, Holidays make this feeling even worse.”