Over 150 Caregivers from across Canada attend inaugural local virtual conference
WINDSOR, ON – During two jammed-packed mornings last month, caregivers from across Canada took to zoom to learn from experts, peers, and mental health practitioners on how best to support their loved-ones and themselves from the impacts of mental illness. The purpose of the conference was to educate, create connections, and wellness.
The first annual Caring for the Caregiver Conference hosted by Hôtel-Dieu Grace Healthcare (HDGH), WE SPARK Health Institute and the University of Windsor was a resounding success seeing over 150 participants (one even zooming in all the way from New Zealand) to better understand this critically important role both within their family or loved-ones’ support network and healthcare system as a whole.
The grassroots idea came from a member of HDGH’s Mental Health and Addictions Patient and Family Advisory Council – a group of patients, clients, loved-ones, clinicians, and leadership with the goal of improving experiences and care within the mental health and addictions system. Clementa Stan, a caregiver herself, recognized the need to support this vulnerable, often unrecognized group, in the important role they play gaining access, education, wellness, and support for the individual which whom they are caring.
“What was unique about our conference is that it was completely and totally informed by a robust research study first. We didn’t want to hold an event just to say we did one. We wanted our conference to address the specific, identified needs of caregivers to a loved-one with mental illness. Every speaker, session, topic, minute was carefully planned to provide attendees with the information they not only needed but also requested,” explained Stan.
And that it did! Attendees heard from professionals like Mary Jane Dykeman, partner, and co-founder at INQ Law in Toronto on mental health consent finding practical solutions to legal, clinical, risk, and privacy matters. They learned from local and respected HDGH Psychiatrist Dr. Sean Prabhu and two Psychiatry Residents, Dr. Zinnia Ali and Dr. Ashan Veerakumar on the most commonly identified illnesses from the study – Anxiety, Depression, Schizophrenia, Bipolar, Personality, Substance Use and Current Disorders.
The event’s most impactful time, however, came from the caregivers themselves who were able to break into support groups to talk openly, emotionally, and honestly about their shared experiences.
“Thank you for the wonderful conference. It was enlightening to hear from so many professionals in the mental health field and also to see that I am not the only caregiver,” said one conference participant who wished to remain anonymous.
The Caring for the Caregiver conference came off the heals of the Provincial Government announcement recognizing HDGH as a Centre of Excellence for Mental Health and Addictions last month along with the transfer of 68 acute mental health beds to the specialty west-end hospital.
In her opening remarks, HDGH President & CEO, Janice Kaffer acknowledged its impact on mental health and addiction care in Windsor/Essex. “The idea of a Centre of Excellence is really about some of what we are doing here through this conference. It’s about education, it’s about understanding, knowledge, and destigmatizing mental illness and addictions. It’s about an opportunity to continue to create a system where someone knows how, where, and when to get help when they need it.”
This help, not only for clients and patients but for their caregivers too.
“It’s difficult to care for someone with mental illness and see it from the outside in. It’s the arrogance of a healthy brain. We all think we have gone through it, but it’s not the same,” concluded Stan. “To provide a venue and forum to not only learn but also talk with those who understand what we as caregivers are experiencing is invaluable. I’m excited about what comes from this. There is definitely more work to do.”
Conference organizers have already been approached to support and spearhead other peer-driven initiatives. Teams at the University of Windsor, HDGH and WE SPARK are currently concluding the fulsome post-conference analysis they hope to share in the new year. They are also working on a caregiver resource hub that caregivers can leverage resources well into the future.
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Media Contact
Erica Colovic, HDGH Communications Coordinator
226-340-0742
