Building a Better System to Support Canadian Family Caregivers (Conversation #6)

Presented by: Caregiver Centered Care

Conversation #6 Changing the Culture and Context of Care

NOVEMBER 29, 2022. 12:00 – 1:30 MST

The culture and context of health and community care systems to support family caregivers must be improved. Our consultations, and those of other caregiving scholars, found ingrained practices, attitudes, policies, and traditions do not support consideration of the family caregiver's own needs, nor do they enable support provision to family caregivers. Culture is deeply embedded in people’s values, assumptions, behaviors, and attitudes. In essence, culture develops in the context of everyday practice. Helen Bevan (Chief Change Officer in the UK Health System) said that to transform the culture and context of care, we need to change hearts and minds at scale. This webinar aims to answer the question, “What strategies and policies are needed to change the culture and context of care to support family caregivers?”

Speaker: Emily Holzhausen, Policies to support family carers in the UK and Advice for Canadians

Emily Holzhausen is the OBE Director of Policy and Public Affairs Carers UK, and leads on Carers UK policy, parliamentary, research and media work, encompassing many issues relating to caring including employment. She was responsible for Carers UK’s Advice and Information services for 15 years, transforming the service into a wider digital offer. She has worked on two successful Private Members Bills and numerous pieces of legislation which have introduced carer’s rights. She leads Carers Week, one of the UK’s biggest awareness weeks, that involves thousands of local events and established Carers Rights Day now in its 19th year. Research and evidence have been at the heart of her work in order to demonstrate how change and practice can benefit carers. She has undertaken over 40 pieces of original research into carers and caring, most recently with her team delivering Caring Behind Closed Doors, (April 2020) . This is one of the first major pieces of research on carers globally, with Caring behind closed doors: six months on (October 2020).

Speaker: Dr. Susan C. Reinhard, Policy Work to Support American Family Caregivers and Advice for Canadians.

Susan C. Reinhard, RN, PhD, FAAN is senior vice president and director of the AARP Public Policy Institute and chief strategist for both the Center to Champion Nursing in America (CCNA) and family caregiving initiatives. CCNA (an initiative of AARP Foundation), AARP and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, are national initiatives to ensure America has the nurses it needs to provide care in the future.
Susan is a nationally recognized expert in health and long-term care policy, with extensive experience in conducting, directing, and translating research to promote policy change. Previously, she served as professor and co-director of Rutgers Center for State Health Policy, directing several national initiatives who aim to help people with disabilities of all ages live in their communities. See: RAISE Family Caregivers Act Initial Report to Congress and Social WOrkers Supporting Family Caregivers. On September 22, 2021, the Recognize, Assist, Include, Support, and Engage (RAISE) Act Family Caregiving Advisory Council delivered its initial report to Congress .Carol Fancott, “Co-designing policy guidance with and for essential care partners: Moving policy into action”

Speaker: Carol Fancott,“Co-designing policy guidance with and for essential care partners: Moving policy into action”

Carol Fancott, PT, PhD, Director, Patient Engagement and Partnerships Healthcare Excellence Canada has a unique mix of skills and experience in the healthcare system, spanning front-line clinician, educator, academic, leader and caregiver. She seeks to build and strengthen relationships, and engagement and partnership are central to her work. Carol has led the co-development and co-delivery of programs and activities that focus on the needs and priorities of patients, caregivers, and communities. A physical therapist by training, Carol also obtained a PhD at the Institute of Health Policy, Management, and Evaluation at the University of Toronto focused on patient engagement and storytelling for organizational learning and improvement.

Speaker: James Janeiro

James Janeiro is a Policy Director at the Canadian Centre for Caregiving Excellence and is a public policy and advocacy professional with over a decade of experience in politics, policy and government relations. He began his career in the Ontario public service working on disability legislation. He then transitioned to the political policy space and served two successive Ontario ministers of community and social services as a senior policy advisor on social assistance, poverty, and veterans' issues. In 2014, James assumed a new role serving Premier Kathleen Wynne as her social policy advisor. In this position, he was responsible for a diverse array of policy areas, including poverty reduction, housing, the basic Income Pilot, disability issues, autism services and municipal affairs. In 2018, James left the public sector for a role in the not-for-profit sector. He was director of community engagement and policy at Community Living Toronto from 2018 to 2022. In this role, James led an ambitious advocacy agenda focused on housing, income security, and service improvement.

What are the key elements needed to support family caregivers? Have your say by registering to Participate in a National Canadian Conversation.

September 20, 2022 - Recognizing the Family Caregiver Role. / “How do we improve recognition of family caregivers and the importance of the family caregiver role?”

October 4, 2022 - The Role of Education of Healthcare Providers to Support Family Caregivers: Elements of Effective Education. / “How do we educate the health workforce effectively, so family caregivers receive timely and effective support?”

October 18, 2022 - Partnering with Family Caregivers. / “What approaches should we be using to build partnerships between healthcare providers and family caregivers?”

October 31, 2022 - Fostering Family Caregiver Resilience: Moving Beyond Telling Family Caregivers to “Take Care of Yourself”. / “What should a “better system” to support family caregivers include? Who needs to be involved?”

November 15, 2022 - Supporting Family Caregivers to Navigate Health and Community/Social Care Systems: Three Navigation Models. / “What is needed to help family caregivers navigate our systems of support and care?”

November 29, 2022 - Changing the Culture and Context of Care. / “What strategies and policies are needed to change the culture and context of care to support family caregivers?”

Each session will adhere to the following schedule:
12:00pm - 1:30pm (MST) - Speaker Presentations
1:30pm - 2:00pm (MST) - Optional participation in facilitated breakout sessions.