Patient & Community Voices: Series kicks of with the Caregiver’s Journey

On Oct 4th, the Patient and Community Voices workshop series presented our first workshop of the year, The Caregiver’s Journey: Heartbreak and Love. Twenty students attended from 5 disciplines (Occupational Therapy, Social Work, Dietetics, Pharmacy and Nursing). Caregivers shared personal stories about the challenges and successes in caring for loved ones with chronic illnesses and presented BC caregiving resources.

“I learned about the lack of integration in the healthcare system… how caregivers are doing a huge amount of work connecting them all… how inconsistencies amongst services impact families… and of course, about the humanity behind every person in that situation (the patient, the caregiver, and service providers).” said a Social Work student.

“I learned how each person struggled with the healthcare system within similar contexts and within different contexts. However, a lot of this struggle could have been prevented if the healthcare providers involved took the time to think before they speak, approach the client from a holistic and client-centred or collaborative relationship-focused approach,” said an Occupational Therapy student.