I am delighted to host this guest post by Ottawa caregiver and author, Lise Cloutier-Steele. Lise is the author of There’s No Place Like Home: A guide to help caregivers manage the long-term care experience and her website can be found at www.ottawacaregiver.com. I am 71 years old, and like
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THE CAREGIVERS' LIVING ROOM A Blog by Donna Thomson: SUPPORT FOR WORKING CAREGIVERS? NOW THERE’S A WAY – SPREAD THE WORD!
Trying to balance work while caregiving for a family member or friend can feel frantic and impossible. It’s exhausting to prop up a fiction that we “should” be able to manage everything, all at once, by ourselves. But now, there is hope that workplaces everywhere will embed caregiver support that
Continue readingTHE CAREGIVERS' LIVING ROOM A Blog by Donna Thomson: Couples as Caregivers
February 14th is of course Valentine’s Day and this year, I am planning a very special Caregiving Essentials webinar with… my husband! Jim and I have been married for 47 years and for most of those, we have been caregivers. As a couple, we’ve cared for our mothers, my step-father
Continue readingTHE CAREGIVERS' LIVING ROOM A Blog by Donna Thomson: Why 2024 Will Be the Year of the Caregiver
My New Year’s resolution is to work hard at the Canadian Centre for Caregiving Excellence to get a national strategy for caregivers – ALL caregivers, patients and families. The third day of the November Canadian Caregiving Summit was all about how we can achieve real change here and worldwide for
Continue readingTHE CAREGIVERS' LIVING ROOM A Blog by Donna Thomson: Isolated for the Holidays
I haven’t forgotten to write up Day 3 of the Canadian Centre for Caregiving Excellence Conference – I WILL get to it (all my notes are made and I can’t wait to tell you what happened!). But, it’s coming up to Christmas and I want to share something that is
Continue readingTHE CAREGIVERS' LIVING ROOM A Blog by Donna Thomson: The CCCE Summit Day 2 – Visit or Revisit the Highlights!
November 7th was Day 2 of the Canadian Caregiving Summit and it was just as exciting as Day 1! The theme of Day 2 was “Defining the need for a national caregiving strategy.” The Canadian Centre for Caregiving Excellence told us that Canada (like many other countries) has reached a
Continue readingTHE CAREGIVERS' LIVING ROOM A Blog by Donna Thomson: The Canadian Caregiving Summit: Day 1 – All the Juicy Bits!
I had the pleasure and privilege of attending the Canadian Caregiving Summit from November 6-8 in Ottawa, Canada. I cannot begin to tell you how thrilling it was to join with so many national and international caregivers, researchers, front line workers and policymakers. Together, we kickstarted a movement for public policy
Continue readingTHE CAREGIVERS' LIVING ROOM A Blog by Donna Thomson: Caring, Grieving and Remembering When the World’s On Fire
Last week I had the privilege of attending the Canadian Centre of Excellence (CCCE) Summit. It was three days of continuously invigorating, challenging and hopeful discussions. I will write more in the coming days about the Summit and what I learned, but today I want to reflect on the meaning
Continue readingTHE CAREGIVERS' LIVING ROOM A Blog by Donna Thomson: Here’s a Concept That May Explain a LOT
A few months ago, I was chatting with the caregiving thought leader and founder of the Caregiving Years Training Academy, Denise Brown. Denise and I always have great conversations and this time, she mentioned an idea that really caught my attention. “You know why caregivers are so desperate?” she asked,
Continue readingTHE CAREGIVERS' LIVING ROOM A Blog by Donna Thomson: So THAT’S Why Caregivers Feel So Desperate!
Last week, I had a fascinating chat with the caregiving guru (and I don’t use that word lightly), Denise Brown. Denise is the founder of the Caregiving Years Training Academy and has been guiding caregivers to resources and wisdom for almost 30 years. If you have a break in
Continue readingTHE CAREGIVERS' LIVING ROOM A Blog by Donna Thomson: Mother Lode: Confessions of a Reluctant Caregiver
When Dr. Zachary White and I were in the research phase of writing The Unexpected Journey of Caring, we talked about a phenomenon that we were observing in caregiver support groups online. Zachary called it “the great migration.” More and more caregivers (mostly women) were moving away from their
Continue readingTHE CAREGIVERS' LIVING ROOM A Blog by Donna Thomson: Happy National Caregivers Day in Canada – Reasons for Hope
Today is National Caregiver Day in Canada. I feel spring in the air and I’d like to share some trends that I feel hopeful about – hopeful for the future of caregiving here in Canada and across North America. The first reason I’m hopeful is that The Canadian Centre for
Continue readingTHE CAREGIVERS' LIVING ROOM A Blog by Donna Thomson: Caregiver Recipe Exchange!
I love food and I love to cook. But like any other caregiver, I often have no time to make something healthy and delicious, so that’s when I turn to my “Under 30 second preparation time recipes.” Now, some of these recipes require slightly more than 30 seconds to make,
Continue readingTHE CAREGIVERS' LIVING ROOM A Blog by Donna Thomson: For National Caregiver Day, A Reflection on Receiving Care
Yesterday I had a fascinating conversation with Laurel Wittman, President of the Well Spouse Association. Laurel is a long-time carer for her husband who has MS. After chatting a while about spousal caregiving, I asked, “How does your husband care for you?” It was question that changed the direction of
Continue readingTHE CAREGIVERS' LIVING ROOM A Blog by Donna Thomson: It’s National Caregiver Day in USA – Here is my Message
You won’t receive any cards or cakes for National Caregiver Day. You won’t be handed a box of chocolates or a new diamond ring either. If you did, you would have made it or bought it and wrapped it yourself. That’s the thing about caregiving, it’s for someone else, usually someone we
Continue readingTHE CAREGIVERS' LIVING ROOM A Blog by Donna Thomson: Quitting Time: A PM’s Resignation Has Lessons for Caregivers
Yesterday I learned that Jacinda Ardern, Prime Minister of New Zealand who led her country for the past five years, resigned unexpectedly. In an emotional statement, she said, “I am human, politicians are human. We give all that we can for as long as we can. And then it’s time. And
Continue readingTHE CAREGIVERS' LIVING ROOM A Blog by Donna Thomson: The Twelve Days of a Caregiver Christmas
This is a reprise of a Christmas post from 2017. Hasn’t the world changed since then?! Then again, time moves more slowly in caregiving. Merry Christmas, everyone! And may we all stay safe and healthy in 2023. My words to the carol “The Twelve Days of Christmas” are fun,
Continue readingTHE CAREGIVERS' LIVING ROOM A Blog by Donna Thomson: When a Book Hits So Close to Home: The Lady With The Crown
When I was very young, I wished for some big event to happen to me, something truly dramatic – tragic, even. I hadn’t yet heard the expression “Be careful what you wish for.” I was 16 when my father had his first of three strokes. I remember the day –
Continue readingTHE CAREGIVERS' LIVING ROOM A Blog by Donna Thomson: All Together Now! The Power of Teamwork in Caregiving
I actually published this post a few months ago but I want to reprise it because (pause for happy dance), I am hosting Dr. Brian Goldman on our next Caregiving Essentials webinar to talk about teamwork in caregiving! Join us for what promises to be a rich, rich discussion about
Continue readingTHE CAREGIVERS' LIVING ROOM A Blog by Donna Thomson: A Man Finds His Purpose in Caregiving | Ousmane | The New Yorker Screeni…
Lately I’ve been talking about “slivers of time” for self-care or reflection. If you can find half an hour today, watch this short film about a homesick immigrant who finds purpose and meaning in caring for an elderly neighbour with dementia. It’s a quiet film shot in my hometown of
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