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Friends Caring for Friends - A Circle of Care Approach

Caregivers Out Loud

Release Date: 05/11/2021

Secondary Caregivers Relieving Primary Caregivers Through Circles of Care show art Secondary Caregivers Relieving Primary Caregivers Through Circles of Care

Caregivers Out Loud

How can building a circle of care around yourself help you continue to deliver the best care? Even the most devoted and capable caregiver needs support in their role. From weekends away to help around the house, letting another caregiver take some of the demands off your plate keeps you well enough, in body and mind, to continue your important work. Greer Rosequist has plenty of experience being a caregiver, from her former career as a nurse in long-term and palliative communities to offering respite to her sisters, who provide daily care for their mother. This experience led her to a...

info_outline Juggling Roles: Finding Balance When Caring for a Parent show art Juggling Roles: Finding Balance When Caring for a Parent

Caregivers Out Loud

How do you navigate the transition from child to caregiver of a parent while supporting both their dignity and your own wellness? Caring for an aging or ill parent comes with countless responsibilities, from prepping meals and scheduling medication to attending appointments and much more. While this shift to caregiver is, in some ways, a natural progression, it also requires you to navigate into a new relationship with your parent. As such, you need to learn how to balance respect and consent for their desires with your own health and happiness. Roma Palmer is a registered clinical...

info_outline Caregiving for a Partner: Intimacy Reimagined show art Caregiving for a Partner: Intimacy Reimagined

Caregivers Out Loud

How do you maintain an intimate relationship when you become a caregiver for your spouse or partner? Sharing life as a couple means facing and overcoming countless challenges. For so many, the ultimate challenge begins when an illness is uncovered, and one of you must become a caregiver to the other. Rene faced this transition when her husband of 20 years was diagnosed with Parkinsons in his mid-40s. In the two decades since his diagnosis, the couple has navigated a dramatic shift in household and relationship responsibilities and must constantly work at alternative ways to maintain intimacy...

info_outline Planning Life's Final Choices: A Guide to End-of-Life Dialogue show art Planning Life's Final Choices: A Guide to End-of-Life Dialogue

Caregivers Out Loud

How do you begin the difficult dialogue around end-of-life wishes for your care recipient? When you are the caregiver for someone whose health is declining, the reality of death can be overshadowing and feel frightening to acknowledge. So often, it’s as though we fear that simply speaking about death will speed it to our door. Karla Kerr, a funeral director and death doula in Victoria, BC, sees things differently. She approaches conversations with families who are facing or have just experienced death in an exploratory and compassionate way that recognizes death is inevitable. Respecting and...

info_outline Supporting Young Caregivers: The Overlooked Caregiver Demographic show art Supporting Young Caregivers: The Overlooked Caregiver Demographic

Caregivers Out Loud

What difficulties develop when a child becomes a caregiver to their own parent? Studies show that young caregivers make up at least 12% of Canadian youth. One of these young people is Kristie Mar. At just 16 years old, Kristie set aside a significant part of her adolescence to become the sole carer for her mother, who was navigating schizophrenia and anorexia. The medical professionals, counsellors, and groups from whom she sought assistance, however, never gave her the title of “caregiver.” As such, it took her years to think of herself in this way or discover the resources that...

info_outline A Contemporary Approach to Palliative and Hospice Care for Family Caregivers and Their Recipients show art A Contemporary Approach to Palliative and Hospice Care for Family Caregivers and Their Recipients

Caregivers Out Loud

How can you build a healthier relationship with death and dying that will benefit both caregiver and recipient? Aaron Yukich is an end-of-life doula, mindfulness practitioner, and hospice care worker. In his work with the Family Caregivers of BC Caregiver Support Line, Aaron incorporates meaning-making and self-reflection into his sessions with caregivers, helping them uncover new ways to provide support to their care recipients without overlooking their own well-being. The end-of-life process has many varied aspects. Aaron helps caregivers navigate this intricate spiritual and emotional...

info_outline How Brooke Ellison Maintains Dignity and Individuality as a Full-Time Care Recipient show art How Brooke Ellison Maintains Dignity and Individuality as a Full-Time Care Recipient

Caregivers Out Loud

How would you retain your sense of self if you required full-time care? When Brooke Ellison was 11 years old, a car accident left her a ventilator-dependent quadriplegic. Her mother Jean stepped into the role of full-time caregiver, and their familial and caregiving relationship balance has continued for over thirty years. Dr. Brooke Ellison graduated from Harvard, wrote two memoirs, and is a frequent public speaker on resilience, leadership, and hope. In this episode, she reflects on her experiences as a care recipient—both then and now. Specifically, Brooke shares how she navigates...

info_outline Full-Time Caregiver and Mother: How Jean Ellison Balances Two Essential Roles show art Full-Time Caregiver and Mother: How Jean Ellison Balances Two Essential Roles

Caregivers Out Loud

How do you honour both yourself and your family member when giving full-time care? In this episode, Jean Ellison speaks about her experience as a full-time caregiver to her daughter, Brooke, whose story of life as a ventilator-dependent quadriplegic is well-known and inspirational. For more than 30 years, Jean Ellison has balanced the roles of full-time caregiver and mother. While it was always clear to Jean that Brooke would live at home and not in a care facility, accepting her new reality and career trajectory was not a simple process. Jean strives to find happiness and laughter in every...

info_outline Financial Decision Making for Caregivers with Shannon Lee Simmons show art Financial Decision Making for Caregivers with Shannon Lee Simmons

Caregivers Out Loud

At some point in our lives, we’ll all be faced with a tough decision we didn’t see coming. In most caregiving situations, people enter the caregiving role with love and passion. Then pretty soon, they begin to see some of the bigger implications, such as how finances are a big factor in the choices that affect the care recipient OR the caregiver themself. In today’s episode, we chat with Shannon Lee Simmons, a Certified Financial Planner and the author of a new book “No Regret Decisions: Making Good Choices During Difficult Times”, to tackle some of the anxiety and emotional stress...

info_outline Caregiving From a Distance - a Long Distance Care Panel show art Caregiving From a Distance - a Long Distance Care Panel

Caregivers Out Loud

Many caregivers are supporting care recipients from a long distance. This form of caregiving brings with it a unique set of challenges as we try to provide support from afar. In this episode, Bill guides a panel of long distance caregivers, Mary Chan, Karla Wilson, and Victoria Lougheed, through a dynamic conversation filled with positive energy and laughter. The foursome came together to talk about their challenges of caring while not being able to physically be there, and to share some insights including some beautiful moments along the path that have made their caregiving journey a...

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More Episodes

Have you ever said this to a struggling caregiver - “Let me know if there’s anything I can do to help?’ The offering has good intent, but many times people say it because they don’t know how to help, are uncomfortable, or want to be polite. And although 29 percent of caregivers in BC are in distress, you will still hear caregivers say: ‘I don’t need any help’ or ‘It’s okay, I’m fine’.


Today we hear from Jim and how he supported his friend Art and Art’s wife Grace during Grace’s diagnoses and disease. Jim shares how in the process of supporting his friends, and at first it wasn’t with great success, he learned a lot about himself. We talk about the FCBC Circle of Care model and how it worked for Jim and his support group.

Highlights:

  • Watching a friend with caregiving
  • How to support his caregiver friend and his wife who was ill and then dying
  • Circle of Care concept and development with the support of Family Caregivers of British Columbia
  • Strategies and tools to support
  • Vulnerability, growth, and learning from a man's point of view
  • The need to talk with other men and find his voice in communication and understanding

Resources:

Online Tools and Apps:

  • CaringBridge helps you create a free personal website to quickly share updates about your care recipient’s health journey. Share news and updates with everyone at the same time, activate your community and coordinate help, and receive emotional strength and support. https://www.caringbridge.org/
  • Lotsa Helping Hands features a free Help Calendar where you can post requests for support. Members of your community can quickly find ways to help, and Lotsa will send reminders and help coordinate logistics automatically so nothing falls through the cracks. Share how things are going, update requests, and receive support and feedback. http://lotsahelpinghands.com/
  • MealTrain is a free interactive online meal calendar with customized calendar dates, times and meal preferences. Invitations can be sent via email and Facebook including reminder emails, online journal updates and an optional donation fund add-on. https://www.mealtrain.com/
  • Tyze Connecting Care is an online tool that brings people together around someone receiving care.If you’re helping to care for someone Tyze is a simple way to keep everyone informed and get organized. Send updates to everyone at once from anywhere, keep track of everything in one place, access appointments, store documents and let family and friends know how to help. There may be a cost involved depending on options selected. http://tyze.com/caring-for-someone/
  • Ability411, they "answer questions and provide practical information about technologies, tools and equipment that increase independence and well-being for BC seniors, and support their families and care teams." https://www.ability411.ca/

Links Mentioned in Episode:

Connect With Us!

Family Caregivers of BC Website https://www.familycaregiversbc.ca/

Telephone: (250) 384-0408
Toll-Free Line Within BC: 1-877-520-3267
Fax: (250) 361-2660
Email: [email protected]

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/FamilyCaregiversBC/

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/familycaregiversofbc/

LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/18122187

Twitter https://twitter.com/caringbc

Thank you!

BC Ministry of Health - Patients as Partners Initiative https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/health/about-bc-s-health-care-system/partners/patients

Organized Sound Productions http://www.organizedsound.ca/