Losing Our Parents Blog

Caregiver Heroes

CAREGIVER HEROES PROGRAM

There are only four types of people in this world:

1. Those who have been caregivers
2. Those who are currently caregivers
3. Those who expect to be caregivers
4. Those who will need a caregiver

We believe that family caregivers are very important and deserve greater recognition and appreciation by our society. They take care of our families and do many amazing heroic acts. Family caregivers help with household duties, take family members to medical appointments, shopping, help with dressing, hygiene and many more tasks. Caregivers often have great stress, assume extra financial burdens and burnout issues.

Our Caregiver Heroes Program is dedicated to appreciating, acknowledging and simply “thanking” them for all they do.

We have partnered with a local Toronto high end retailer of home goods and furnishings to give gifts to family caregivers caring for ill family members. If you are or know of a family caregiver, please send us an email to nominate a family caregiver to receive a free gift. We would like to publically thank them and offer them a free gift and a certificate of appreciation for their heroic efforts.

You can email me directly at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) to tell us about a family caregiver that you believe is a hero.

March 26, 2012 | By: mary | 0 comment(s) | Filed under: Announcements

Caregivers in the workplace.

Getting ready for two workshops at a law firm at First Canadian Place in Toronto on Thursday. They have asked me to speak to their lawyers and staff about employees and caregiver burnout. One session starts at one, the other at seven at night. Shall be fun and interesting for all.

March 20, 2012 | By: mary | 0 comment(s) | Filed under: Announcements

Diversity in Caregiving Workshops Wrap Up

It is with great pride that I share a few highlights of our diversity workshops held last weekend. Thanks to funding by Citizenship and Immigration Canada, we were able to bring many people from different cultures, religions and races together to celebrate the cultural similarities and diversities of family caregiving.

Canadians represent a variety of cultural norms and traditions that are accompanied by different values and beliefs about life, death and health. These traditions influence our views about health-care delivery and need to be part of our loved one’s care plan. It can be a challenge for most caregivers, whether they’re professional or family.

It was so rewarding to have so many caregivers participate in our diversity workshops and live webinar. Dr. Roohullah Shabon and CEO of the Agency for Assistance & Development of Afghanistan (www.aada.org.af) talked about how to care for the very ill and the importance to respect the culture of the dying. Nurse Jackie Hickey of Bayshore Home Health shared ideas about how to “care for caregivers” and Soraiya Walji, also of Bayshore Home Health gave us insights into how caregivers can manage in a new country and resources for support.

After our fun filled coffee break and visiting the table top displays, family caregivers shared their stories. Some shared stories of great joy, honour and family traditions. Some stories made us cry. Caregivers came from at least 21 cultures and 3 religious shared their stories. There was great compassion, understanding and respect shared by all. It is important to remember that caregiving is universal. All peoples care for their elders. This was an opportunity to allow us all to celebrate our caregiving similaries and the differences.

This was a major undertaking that exceeded expectations only because of our wonderful partners. They were:

Laura Arrizza, Jorge Rivera and Denise Drabkin from the Toronto Public Library. Their dedication, professionalism and enthusiasm were much appreciated. The Barbara Frum Branch was the perfect location for our workshop!

Vyry and Lolli were “super star volunteers”.

Special thanks to our facilitator Tammy Cunningham of The Mastery Workshops (www.themasteryworkshops.com), for keeping everything on track and creating a forum for family caregivers to safe and feel comfortable to share their stories.

Our technical support as always was amazing. Special thanks to Opal Gamble and Paul Sveda of Design and Develop (www.designanddevelop.ca).

Michael Kee from Keeframe Productions (www.keeframeproductions.com and Chris Kata, one of our Board members produced a fantastic webinar.

Kathy Kastner from Ability4Life (@KathyKastner, www.ability4life.com), tweeted the Toronto event under #hcsmca.

We exceeded our goal to bring family caregivers of diverse cultures, religions together to learn and share life experiences through story telling. It was a proud moment for our charity, and we plan to bring new and other exciting projects to family caregivers in the future.

Click here to view the event gallery!

March 8, 2012 | By: mary | 0 comment(s) | Filed under: Announcements

Page 1 of 15 page(s) 1 2 3 > Last »