Resources & Insights
Eldercare Blog
Expert advice, caregiving tips, and insights to support you on your eldercare journey.
181 posts
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Self-Care in a Cup
Can you feel the stress in the air? Or that feeling of tightness in your chest? That’s because it’s December! Even in my own “trying to simplify”, I rub up...
Visiting with Seniors in Care
Keys to communicating and making connections I captured this photo of a client last week during a visit with her in long-term care. She absolutely loves her...
DOs and DON’Ts of caregiving communication
Looking after loved ones with compassion, conversing without conflict
Having “The Talk” about Eldercare
AND, NO, DENIAL ISN’T A STRATEGY! Opening up and talking honestly to an aging parent or spouse about future care needs and options can be awkward. However...
An eldercare story – Mary & Rick
A story of caregiving with respect and aging with dignity
Getting older is natural but aging is for the birds!
Coping with loved ones’ losses as they age The many, often cumulative, changes that occur with age mean that seniors and their family caregivers are continually...
How to support an aging loved one during a pandemic
Caregiving with compassion in COVID times Like the rest of the world, our business had to make several shifts in 2020 with likely more to come in the next few...
Family Caregiving - it's only a matter of time...
Did you know that by 2030, seniors are projected to account for close to one in four people?[i]This will represent almost a 10% increase from 2013. The senior...
Strategies for Resiliency
I have the honour to write a monthly column in Inspire Senior Living for my work with Family Caregivers of BC. This month we talked about Strategies to Build...
Know Your Holiday Hot Buttons
For many of us, December marks the start of holiday gatherings and festivities, making it feel like “the most wonderful time of the year.” Some family...
Accessing Community Resources
If you are unsure about what kind of help you can access in the community when caring for someone, you are among the many British Columbians who find navigating...
Are You a Healthy Caregiver?
Last week, my phone was ringing off its hook with family caregivers. Their caregiving needs all varied. One caregiver was calling for a parent who couldn’t...
Creating Space to Heal
Late last year I worked with a woman who was struggling to cope with her partner’s attitudes towards his Parkinson’s disease. She felt worried, frustrated...
Don’t Let Caregiving Turn You Into A Grinch
I was in a gift shop yesterday and, as I am often noted for, spoke out loud to no one in particular, “Wow, this holiday season has really snuck up again on me...
Caring for a Loved One With Chronic Pain
Chronic pain is difficult for the person affected and the person caring for them. As part of my work with Family Caregivers of BC, I write for Senior Living...
Balancing Work and Caregiving
You have a looming deadline at work and your mother keeps calling because your father has fallen yet again. You are notified by your mother’s housing provider...
Take a hike! Or in my case, a bike!
It’s that time again – summer holidays – and for myself, that meant a 6-day solo excursion to Oregon tackling some road cycling, enjoying some great new sights...
Self-Compassion For All
It becomes understood that happiness is not dependent on circumstances being exactly as we want them to be, or on ourselves being exactly as we’d like to be...
Speaking Up & Getting What You Need After Brain Injury
Speaking Up & Getting What You Need After Brain Injury with Valerie Wiens, MA (Gerontology) Wednesday, April 19, 2017 1:30 - 3:00 pm Nanaimo Harbourfront...
Caregiving: Unexpected Changes
My Dad is 95 years old and honestly, some days I can’t believe he is still alive. I’m his only daughter and caregiver. I’ve been looking after him for 4 years...
The Ins and Outs of Hiring Private Care
In the past few months, Family Caregivers of BC received numerous calls from individuals asking about how to hire private care, through an agency or an...
Coach Caregiver, aka Valerie, LIVE to Answer Your Caregiving Questions
Join me and the fantastic Jodie McDonald, Executive Director for the Cowichan Valley Caregivers Support Society, for our final live Coach Caregiver session of...
Advance Care Planning Isn't Just For Seniors
“It does not do to leave a live dragon out of your calculations, if you live near him.” ― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit This quote reminds me of my mom. No, she...
Just Put Me In The Cheapest Cardboard Box!
No fancy casket for this middle-aged gal. Seriously, put me in the lowest end box, cremate me and then party up a great life lived, with a few tears and plenty...
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