The Hamilton Spectator -Don’t wait for an emergency: Here are the small signs that your aging parents need help 

Families assume caring for aging parents will begin with a crisis, says Hamilton nurse Joanne De Rubeis. 

They’re waiting for a call in the middle of the night about a fall or to be summoned to a hospital, or for a diagnosis to make it clear that it’s time to have important conversations. 

But De Rubeis says it’s the small easy-to-miss changes that signal it’s time to put some supports in place. 

As the population ages, about 50 per cent of Canada’s caregivers are looking after their parents or parents-in-law, flagged a report on balancing work and care in July 2022 by McMaster University and Carers Canada. 

 The Canadian Centre for Caregiving Excellence estimates one in four Canadians is a caregiver, calling it “largely invisible in public policy across the country.”