Finding Support for Yourself

Finding support for yourself as a caregiver is one of the more difficult things to do as I am finding out. Part of the problem is the isolation that you feel and can have while being a caregiver. This is not to say that help is not out there, it's just tricky to find. So, I've been searching the net to find things for my mental health and general well-being. I'm just going to lay the information I've found so far into a list in no particular order.

http://www.meetup.com is a site where you can find groups who get together in your local area, anywhere around the world. These groups cover everything from a girl's nite out to travel, pub crawls, yoga, meditation and much more. Some groups are open to everyone and some to members only. They may ask for a nominal fee if you join ($1-$5) and you are expected to pay for your own meal or materials.

The Alzheimer's Society of Ontario has links to sites where there are online chats for caregivers as well as other resources.

Your local library may have groups from learning English, knitting, book clubs, health seminars, tax clinics at tax time, gardening, and more. Here in Toronto some of the groups are available in Cantonese, Mandarin, French and English.

These next three links I found by following one link to another after searching for caregiver online support groups Canada.

http://www.helpguide.org/elder/caring_for_caregivers.htm  A great article on making care-giving easier with links to other resources.
http://www.von.ca/en/caregiver-connect/home/ a great resource on all things for caregivers.
http://www.fcns-caregiving.org/ has great resources as well as web and tele seminars on a variety of subjects.

If your loved one has a particular illness, the foundation or society for that illness usually has peer support groups in your area as well as other resources.

I decided to toss in a copy of the Caregiver's Bill of Rights because this is what this post is really about.