LONG-TERM CARE: Will 2025 be the year we fix it?
This is a wonderful opinion piece from Ottawa (Canada) caregiver and writer, Lise Cloutier-Steele. It's a call to action to reform long term...
7 min read
Donna Thomson
Donna Thomson
FAST CAR is a Song About Caregiving
Driving home in a snowstorm today, the song Fast Car came on the radio. I can sing every word because I've loved it since Tracy Chapman firs...
3 min read
Confessions of an Ambivalent Caregiver: I Love This New Memoir
One of the privileges of writing a blog for caregivers is that occasionally, someone sends me a book to review. (This makes me very happy.) ...
4 min read
New Resources for Working Caregivers and Their Employers!
Did you know that more than 3.5 million workers in Canada are also family caregivers? And over half of those are women who provide more than...
2 min read
PLANNING FOR THE LONG TERM
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 ...
6 min read
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 ...
3 min read
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! Ji...
3 min read
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 c...
4 min read
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 ...
2 min read
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 y...
5 min read
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,...
3 min read
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. De...
2 min read
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 …
2 min read
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 w...
5 min read
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 fo…
4 min read
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 …
3 min readFor 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…
3 min readQuitting 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 ….
3 min readWhen 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 expressi…
3 min readAll 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 …
3 min readCanada's Caregiving Crisis and HOW TO FIX IT
Buckle up because today, the new Canadian Centre for Caregiving Excellence released a white paper on the crisis state of caregiving in Cana…
2 min readNovember Caregiver Support Challenge
November is many things. For Canadians it’s the dark month, the lead-up to Christmas. For Americans, it’s Thanksgiving month. For all of u…
2 min readArtists as Designers of Dying and Funerals
I’ve been thinking about death and dying a lot lately. Maybe that’s because I watched all of the Queen’s funeral or maybe it’s because I r…
4 min readThe Perfect Fake Independence
The other day I was browsing facebook posts in an online caregiver support group when I read, “My mother was living the perfect life of fa…
2 min readWish a Caregiver Happy Labour Day!
The feminist scholar Arlene Kaplan Daniels coined the phrase “invisible work” to describe the many tasks that women have traditionally pe…
5 min readLessons for Caregivers in a New Book, The Power of Teamwork
Today I finished reading The Power of Teamwork: How We Can All Work Better Together by Dr. Brian Goldman and I had to share my excitement a…
6 min readAll My News: A Personal Update
It’s Sunday morning and the thrum of rain on our metal roof is lulling me into a thoughtful mood. It’s a good day for writing. So I thought…
5 min read
THE DOCTOR WILL SEE YOU NOW - AT HOME
For 23 years, we ran a “home ICU” for our son Nicholas. Nick was born with severe cerebral palsy and he is very medically complex. Movi…
2 min read
National Caregiver Day in Canada: All the News!
The first Tuesday in April is National Caregiver Day in Canada and this year, there is lots of news to share! Although it doesn’t formally…
3 min read
FOR NATIONAL CAREGIVER DAY: ALL THE GOOD THINGS
Today, February 18, is National Caregiver Day in Canada and it seems like a great time to tell you about all the great opportunities for ca…
3 min read
Two Cups of Tea and Slivers of Time
The other day I recorded a short video for the (free!) online Caregiving Essentials course that I facilitate at McMaster University Depar…
2 min read
The Tiniest New Year's Resolution
It’s the new year – a time for hope and resolutions. But it’s also 2022 and we’re in the midst of a new surge in the pandemic. The usual tem…
3 min read
ADVOCACY BIG AND LITTLE: You Can't Do Caregiving Without It
I have the pleasure of facilitating a free online course called Caregiving Essentials , offered through McMaster University Continuing Educa…
2 min read
CircleOf - The Newest Online Caregiver's Best Friend
If you are a regular reader here in the Caregivers’ Living Room, you will know that I love online tools that help family caregivers ease th…
7 min read
When Caregiving Calls - A New Guide for Care
Today it is my pleasure to introduce the very wise caregiving expert and author, Dr. Aaron Blight . I can’t remember exactly where or when…
6 min read
Help! I'm a Caregiver and I Need Therapy!
About forty years ago, I had what we called then, a “nervous breakdown”. My life unravelled as I sunk further and further into a deep clinic…
9 min read
TWO NEW FREE COURSES - ONLINE AND JUST FOR CAREGIVERS
When our son Nicholas was two, he had an operation to insert a feeding tube in his tummy. It was a tough decision made a little easier by th…
5 min read
Nursing Home Abuse During Times of COVID-19
Photo: NPR COVID-19 has taken a terrible toll on Canadian long …
5 min read
PARENT TO PARENT: Learning to TRANSITION
A few weeks ago, I came across this wonderful piece on transitions by a parent of twins, Marquitha Gilbert. I contacted Marquitha and we had…
5 min read