You may be a caregiver and not even realize it

Amy Coupal said it is a common refrain she encounters in her work as the CEO of the Ontario Caregiver Organization (OCO) — and a statement even she has made.

“We hear from people all the time that, ‘I do this because I am a parent, I am a spouse, I am a daughter or a son,’” she said. “For me, I would say that did not change until my current caregiving role with my dad.”

While she helped support her brother with cerebral palsy while she was growing up, and her mother through a cancer diagnosis and treatment, it was not until she began helping her father, who is in his 80s, that she really began seeing herself as a caregiver.

“We take on these responsibilities as new information – or sometimes new healthcare challenges – arise,” she said. “I think today (health care) places an increased amount of attention on the role of the caregiver and recognizing the caregiver as part of the health care team.

“That is when I really started to see myself as a caregiver. It did not really change the practicality of what I was doing, but all of the sudden I understood this was a role I was doing as part of my dad’s care and being recognized as part of the team.”

According to the OCO, caregivers — from family to friends and neighbours — provide three-quarters of patient care in the province. This might include everything from giving rides to appointments and personal care, to scheduling medical visits and taking on financial and legal responsibilities. The amount of support given might also range from a couple to more than 10 hours a week.

“This is the thing that is so diverse about caregiving roles,” said Coupal. “Caregivers are as unique as the physical and mental health issues that the people they are caring for may face. It might be related to ageing or to an accident or a chronic condition. Everyone is unique in their own health care journey and that means the caregiving role is unique in the same way.”

Created in 2018 to support Ontario’s four million caregivers, the OCO is a non-profit organization that offers free programing, support and toolkits to caregivers and the people they are supporting. It also educates people about the variety or roles caregiving can take by highlighting 10 different but common support scenarios.

These include a person taking time off work to support a partner who might have broken a leg, grandkids who take turns visiting a grandparent with limited mobility to make sure they have company, a parent who has moved in with their adult child after a health issue, and a friend looking after an elderly neighbour after a fall.

“We have caregivers who are working through home care, in-patient care, care at hospitals, out-patient care, surgeries and follow-ups,” said Coupal. “There can be so many different ways that caregiving is required.”