Supporting the Mental Health of Caregivers
“Really helpful and timely chat and advice. Very grateful to have been able to discuss my situation with an experienced therapist. Felt relieve and empowered to deal with my elderly parents. Went from overwhelmed to feeling able again.
Thank you.”
-SCALE participant
With more than half of Ontario’s 3.3 million caregivers struggling with their own mental health during COVID-19, the OCO quickly pivoted to build new programs and services to support caregivers through this unprecedented time.
As a first step, OCO brought together caregiver partners with diverse backgrounds and experiences to be part of OCO’s Caregiver and Mental Health Working Group. This group quickly identified the immediate needs of caregivers as information and support.
Shortly after, the OCO launched its Caregiver 101 e-learning module, and The SCALE Program (Supporting Caregiver Awareness, Learning and Empowerment) – An 8-part series covering a wealth of information that caregivers said they needed, as well as group and one-to-one coaching. The OCO also launched its 1:1 Peer Support program where caregivers could tap into the experiences of a caregiver mentor as a means of support.
67% of caregivers who took the scale program said they felt less distressed, and 74% were better equipped to maintain their mental health and wellbeing after completing the program.
Supporting caregiver mental health also means bringing awareness to the caregiving role among health care providers. To that end, the OCO updated The Change Foundation’s Caregiver as Partners e-module series so that it is available in English and in French and available on OCO’s website.
