Canadian Affairs – ‘A roadmap for them to follow’: Centre unveils proposed caregiving strategy

Stephanie Muskat has spent her entire adult life fighting for people to understand her experiences caring for her mother.

Muskat, an only child, began caring for her mother as a 19-year-old university student, when her mother’s behaviour suddenly changed. She stopped paying bills; her emotions became erratic. Eventually, her mother was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia, a disease that damages the brain’s frontal lobes, impairing a person’s decision-making abilities.

Ottawa promised to consult on a national caregiving strategy in last year’s budget. The government has not yet said when public consultations will begin, or when a strategy could be expected. With Parliament prorogued, and an election looming, it is unclear that a strategy will materialize anytime soon.

But that has not stopped a caregiver research and advocacy organization from outlining what the government’s strategy should include. On Feb. 18, the Canadian Centre for Caregiving Excellence released a detailed plan for the strategy.