Family caregivers of people with dementia are often called “the invisible second clients” for good reason.
As many Summerland families have found, their roles as informal caregivers are critical to the quality of life of the person they care for, who generally requires increasing levels of care.
“Without caregivers, people with dementia would have an increasingly poorer quality of life and would need residential care more quickly,” said Laurie Myres, the Alzheimer Society of B.C.’s Support and Education Coordinator for Summerland and the South Okanagan and Similkameen.
The support can come at a cost: caregiver exhaustion. This is why the society is bringing its free Family Caregiver series to the area, on Friday, Oct. 16.
The workshop helps caregivers 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.
Topics 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 and planning for the future.
The series runs from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at Summerland Senior’s Village (day program room), 12803 Atkinson Rd.
Advance registration is required. For information and to register, call Laurie Myres toll-free at 1-888-318-1122 or e-mail lmyres@alzheimerbc.org.
The workshop is free. More information on dementias, as well as resources for living with their impact, are available at alzheimerbc.org.
