Caregiver Coaching is a professional one-to-one relationship between a Coach and a family caregiver.

Caregiver Coaches have various professional backgrounds in health and social services such as system navigators and health educators. Our Caregiver Coaches also have first-hand experience as a caregiver- they get it!

The Coach helps equip the family caregiver to better meet their current challenges and responsibilities of caring for others while also learning to take care of themselves.

Caregiver Coaching is not therapy nor is it counselling. Coaches work with the caregiver to develop a Progress Plan on how to best manage their current challenges through goal setting.

Caregiver Coaching is not peer support. Coaches use their lived experience to validate the caregivers’ current challenges, but the focus is primarily on the caregiver’s experience versus mutually sharing experiences.

A Caregiver Coach may support you with caregiving challenges such as:

• Feelings of burn-out/exhaustion
• Difficulty balancing caregiving role
• Emerging caregiving stressors (e.g., transitions in care, changing family dynamics)
• Finding the time for self-care
• Setting limits
• Communication skills (e.g., how to talk to health care providers and family)
• Grief and loss (e.g., changes in your own life, changing roles and responsibilities of care recipient, end of life, loss of caregiver role
• Financial concerns
• Employment and caregiving balance
• Future care-planning (e.g., fear of what will happen to care recipient)

“I have first-hand experience as a caregiver for my son who has lived for the last 15 years with a traumatic brain injury. People living with acquired brain injuries can feel overwhelmed without the proper supports. I help family caregivers deal with difficult issues to improve the quality of life for themselves and their loved ones” – Coach Suzanne

The Caregiver Coaching Program is a limited, eligibility-based service.

For caregivers to access the program, certain criteria must be met:

• Caregiver must have telephone or internet access
• Caregiver must experience one or more of the following:
  • Struggling or feeling stuck within caregiving role
  • Difficulty managing stress
  • Feeling burned out
• Caregiver must be comfortable to engage in program intake process as well as pre-and post-program questionnaires
• Caregiver’s current challenges must be within the context of their caregiving role
• Caregiver must demonstrate a sense of readiness to participate in the program (e.g., time to commit, accountability to work on Progress Plans)
• Caregiver must acknowledge that the program is not a substitute for counselling or psychotherapy services

If you feel you are not ready to work with a Caregiver Coach, here are some self-help tools to try:

• Download the Healthcare Journey Binder-Learn to organize your caregiving information and how to communicate with people in your caregiving circle of support and care team
• Discovery Questions – Learn to identify your needs and challenges, prioritize what you want to work on first, set goals that are specific, realistic, and achievable to help you work through those challenges, and review your plan over time to assess your progress
• Check out Healthline.ca for local community resources
• It might be helpful to organize and set goals for yourself.
  Learn how to set SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-Bound)
  Download a SMART goals worksheet

Also consider joining other OCO programs and services like Peer Support. Both support groups and 1:1 peer mentoring is available.