An increasing number of Pender Harbour residents are finding themselves in the informal role of caregiver for a family member. The reason? Dementia, the medical term for a set of symptoms that are caused by disorders affecting the brain.
The illness is becoming more common as our population ages. Already B.C. families provide 33.1 million hours of unpaid care to people with dementia per year – and women account for 70 per cent of the caregivers, says Kerri Sutherland, the Alzheimer Society of B.C.’s support and education coordinator for Pender Harbour and the North Shore and Sunshine Coast.
“The physical and psychological toll on family caregivers is considerable,” Sutherland says.
Knowing the signs of caregiver stress and finding ways to get support are important for both families and those they are caring for. To help families on the dementia journey, the Society brings its free Family Caregiver Series workshop to Pender Harbour on Tuesday, April 26.
Caregivers will learn strategies to care for someone with dementia and to take care of their own health, to ensure they are prepared to continue to provide care for their family members. “We provide practical techniques and strategies that caregivers can begin using immediately,” Sutherland says.
Topics to be covered include:
•Understanding Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias.
•Effective and creative ways of facilitating communication with a person with dementia.
• Understanding behaviour as a form of communication.
• Self-care for the caregiver.
• Planning for the future.
The workshop runs from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at Pender Harbour Health Centre. Pre-registration is required. For information and to register, contact Kerri Sutherland at 604-984-8348 or [email protected].
The workshop is free thanks to partial funding by many sponsors and by the generous contributions of individual donors.
More information on Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias is available by visiting www.alzheimerbc.org.
