Canada Faces Crisis in Caring for Elderly: Researcher
May 31, 2009
“Canada will soon face a serious crisis in caring for the elderly unless policy-makers act now to head it off, says a Carleton University researcher. Lifestyle changes combined with an aging population are about to create a serious eldercare crunch in Canada.”
Since beginning this e-newsletter in 2005, I have written very little about caregiving, something in retrospect I find surprising since I was responsible for the care of my father for 14 years.
Five million Canadians are caring for a loved one with long-term health problems, and for one-quarter of them, that’s a full-time job on top of work and other family responsibilities, according to an August 2008 survey.
But the time has come, however, to turn my attention to this critical aspect of long term care for another reason.
It seems – once again – that governments may just be seeing how critical the role of family caregivers is, and without whose help our health care system would collapse.
So in this issue I will outline briefly what seems to be on our governments’ radar and then explain why I believe that as a professional advisor you need to both understand what caregiving is and why it is a critical component of long term care planning for you and your clients.
There may be more information here than you think necessary, but you may be glad one day that you have it on file…for your own family.