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FROM THE WELLNESS CENTRE: Reach out to a caregiver you know for National Caregivers’ Week

Community, Science and Health,

FROM THE WELLNESS CENTRE: Reach out to a caregiver you know for National Caregivers’ Week

Submitted by Anaïs Fortin-Maltais, co-ordinator of JH Partners’ Aging in Community and Caregivers’ Circle programs

As we celebrate National Caregivers’ Week from Nov. 2 to 8, it’s a time to shine a light on those who care quietly, day after day, for a loved one in need.

Aging in the community doesn’t happen alone in 2025.

While health and social services – public and community-based – play an essential role, they only tell part of the story. The rest is written by the thousands of informal caregivers who support family members, friends and neighbours across Quebec.

Back in 2013, an estimated 85 per cent of care for seniors in the province was provided by informal caregivers. With today’s growing needs and pressure on health services, that number is likely even higher. Yet caregiving isn’t limited to seniors. It can mean helping a spouse recovering from illness, a friend living with a disability or a child with additional needs.

This last category is a complex one because, as you might imagine, parents rarely see themselves as caregivers. Therefore, most parents of a child with additional needs won’t reach out for any help and support from which they would benefit. Some of them even belong to the sandwich generation, caring for both a child with disabilities and an aging parent.

And let’s not forget about the moral support caregivers bring to their loved ones in all kinds of settings: hospital visits, adapted living and long-term care. Without their ongoing informal assistance, health-care professionals couldn’t do their job.

Although it helps when caregivers self-identify as such, it’s not a necessity to be able to get some aid in return from their support system. In helping to identify someone else who is in a caregiving situation, you may help lighten a burden they didn’t even know they had.

Whether they provide a few hours of help a week or round- the-clock support, caregivers form the invisible backbone of our health system, and it is vital that we recognize their contribution. This week, let’s make their efforts visible. Please take a moment to reach out to a caregiver you know – because we all know at least one. A kind word, a home-cooked meal or a simple offer to listen can go a long way in reminding them they’re not alone.

FROM JEFFERY HALE COMMUNITY PARTNERS: Life Experiences Project shares stories of resilience from Saint Brigid’s Home residents

Community,

FROM JEFFERY HALE COMMUNITY PARTNERS: Life Experiences Project shares stories of resilience from Saint Brigid’s Home residents

Submitted by Anaïs Fortin-Maltais, Well 50+ Program co-ordinator

To mark World Mental Health Day on Oct. 10, the Jeffery Hale Community Partners proudly present the Life Experiences Project—an intergenerational initiative that shines a light on the resilience and wisdom of older adults in our community.

The project aims to raise awareness about mental health and aging, encourage reflection on personal and collective resilience and promote intergenerational dialogue.

Volunteers interviewed residents living at Saint Brigid’s Home and crafted their powerful testimonies into three articles which are now available online. Community members are invited to read these moving stories and reflect on their own experiences with resilience, adversity and mental health.

You can read the articles on the wejh.ca website under the We Mind Mental Health program in That’s Life: Our Stories and Experiences Around Mental Health.

Program co-ordinator Anaïs Fortin-Maltais said, “We hear little about the mental health of our community members aged over 80, despite all the transitions, challenges and grief older adults can go through.”

According to the Mental Health Commission of Canada, one in four older adults experiences a mental health issue, most commonly depression or anxiety. Yet, mental health challenges among seniors often go underrecognized and under-treated, partly due to stigma and misconceptions that these struggles are a “normal” part of aging. Many Canadians also harbour fears about aging, particularly around loss of independence, social isolation and declining health.

We extend a big thank you to our volunteers Sarah Blair, Kathie Jerow and Elyssa MacKinnon, for helping amplify the voices of participants who generously shared their life stories.

If you’d like to contribute an article to this project, or if you know of an older adult who would like to share their story about mental health and aging, please contact Anaïs Fortin-Maltais, co-ordinator of the Well 50+ & Caregivers’ Circle programs at Jeffery Hale Community Partners, at afortin-maltais@jhpartners.net.