Reading Time: 4 minutes Once we decide to be kind, we find ourselves experiencing belonging. This is what caregivers, paid or unpaid, can teach the rest of society
Author: Donna Thomson
Donna Thomson is a caregiver, author and activist. She is a board director of the Kids Brain Health Network and advises from a family perspective on numerous health research projects. She also teaches families how to advocate for care at The Advocacy School and The Caregiver Network.
Families are key members of patients’ hospital care teams
Reading Time: 4 minutes Wards are staffed based on caring for a sick but otherwise self-sufficient patient population. The reality is patients need family caregivers in the hospital
Small acts of kindness turn the myth of self-care into reality
Reading Time: 3 minutes Building self-care into natural caregiving requires a mind shift. Natural caring relationships are reciprocal. Our job is both to give and to receive care
When a caregiver becomes a care receiver
Reading Time: 4 minutes Lesson learned: We need to apply child-friendly practices to adult care because when you are ill or injured, you feel like a child again
The challenge of talking about caregiving at work
Reading Time: 3 minutes Developing a language that meaningfully resonates with our experiences is an essential step toward creating and leveraging social support
Six places to find local caregiver support
Reading Time: 3 minutes Here are some community resources where help might be found in your neighbourhood. There may be more caregiver support than you imagined
Five (bad) assumptions caregivers must overcome
Reading Time: 3 minutes These assumptions can harm caregivers over time. Happiness and fulfilment are emotions that must be generated from within