Carol Stanley is working to raise awareness about the role that family caregivers play. She would like to see family caregivers given more recognition and support from the health care system.
Stanley is the volunteer coordinator for a Powell River Community Health self-help group run out of Powell River General Hospital (PRGH) for people who take care of sick or elderly family members. The group is led by registered nurse Linda DeVries.
“We sit and talk to each other about what has happened to us as caregivers over the last two weeks,” said Stanley. “It’s mainly just talking and trying to help each other out.”
For the past three years Stanley has been in the role as a family caregiver to her elderly father. Her experience has inspired her to talk about the challenges she faces.
She has faced difficulties navigating the heath care system. She has found out that due to privacy restrictions family caregivers are not always given all the information they need. It makes it more challenging to advocate when they aren’t trusted, she said.
Stanley draws a lot of inspiration from her mentor Dr. Gordon Atherley, a retired physician who lives in Ontario. He hosts Caregivers Unite, a regular radio show on CJMP 90.1FM.
“They have to be part of the team,” she said of caregivers. “They have to know what’s wrong with the family member.”
Stanley said she foresees an increasing number of people will have to take on this role as the government tries to keep elderly people at home longer. “Younger people are going to find themselves increasingly in this position,” she said. As the population ages families will have increased financial pressure because of this, she added.
May 4 to 10 is Family Caregivers Week in the province, and while not all communities are recognizing the week, Powell River will recognize a Family Caregivers Day.
Stanley has organized Tuesday, May 7, as a day not of lectures or workshops, but of self-care because burnout can play a large role for family members who are on-call all day and night.
“This is a stress-free day, so I arranged the day around people being able to come and relax and tell their stories,” she said.
Also included will be shoulder and head massages, gentle yoga, a draw for prizes, a lunch and participation in Powell River Diversity Initiative’s community mapping project. The day’s events run from 11 am to 3 pm at PRGH in conference rooms two and three. For more information about the event readers can email Stanley [email protected] or join her Facebook group Powell River Family Caregiver Forum.
