Susan Palijan

Susan Palijan is hesitant to evaluate the cost of caregiving because, she asks, how do you quantify love for a parent? Still, having provided end-of-life care to her late mother, and now currently caring for her father, Susan says the financial costs and impact on her career have been considerable. 

Susan was raised by immigrant parents who encouraged her and her older sister to be ambitious. She had always been curious about human behaviour and decided she would pursue an academic path in psychology. 

Just as she was entering a PhD program in psychology, Susan’s mother fell ill and had care needs that led Susan to pause her education in order to care for her. “The implicit rule growing up was that you help your family. I was the younger one, so I took on that role,” she says. 

Her mother eventually succumbed to colon cancer in 2013, mere weeks after Susan had secured a senior advisory role in the provincial government. “I had just made her proud, and then she was gone. I lost my drive to succeed for a few years after that,” she says. 

After his wife’s death, Susan’s father struggled with chronic major depression, and was later diagnosed with dementia. He endured multiple hospitalizations. Looking for help, Susan and her sister discovered the system was not set up for his or their needs; they had to pay out of pocket for private caregivers and a temporary stay in a retirement home. “Both my sister and I are working full time but not getting far. We have no reprieve, no respite or time off to care for him or to care for us,” she says. 

All of her vacation time and personal days are used for medical appointments. There are very few free or affordable counselling supports available to her, and she can’t take family caregiver leave because it is unpaid. 

Susan wants to see real change: recognition and support of caregivers in the workplace, and financial supports so caregivers don’t have to choose. She says her family would benefit from funding for the many unpaid services that caregivers provide such as personal support work, medication management, appointment management and care coordination. 

Now, Susan has returned to school part time, working to complete a PhD in health systems research with a focus on caregiving. 

“There has to be a reason that I have gone through all of these caregiving experiences. I have a strong need to advocate for people,” she says.