[vc_row][vc_column width=”1/4″][vc_column_text]Partners

• Steinberg Centre for Simulation and Interactive Learning, McGill University
• Caregiver Crosswalk Inc.
• Olivia Monton, Student Representative, McGill University

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”3/4″][vc_column_text]Context

As the population ages, the provision of care is moving away from a hospital setting and into patients’ homes. Home-based treatments constitute an option for patients following an inpatient stay in the hospital or to prevent admission. This choice is based on a desire to preserve the patient’s autonomy for as long as possible, in a safe and secure manner in their own homes and communities, despite their illness. Often provided by healthcare professionals such as nurses, occupational therapists, and physiotherapists, home-based care can also be provided by caregivers such as friends or family, or by domestic assistants who support individuals in their daily lives by helping them wash and bathe themselves, feed themselves, complete chores, or prepare meals.

To prepare clinicians and volunteer caregivers for their respective roles in providing home-based care, the Centre of Excellence on Longevity and the Steinberg Centre for Simulation and Interactive Learning, McGill University have teamed up with Claire Webster, a specialist counselor who advises on treatment for Alzheimer’s disease and the Founder of Caregiver Crosswalk Inc., and Olivia Monton, a medical student at McGill University, to create a pilot project with the aim of providing training and support to volunteer caregivers of patients suffering from Alzheimer’s or another form of neurodegenerative disorder.

Objectives

> Provide support to caregivers through training and empowerment

> Provide them with the resources to find support

Actions

The pilot project consists of running two half-day workshops with the aim of providing volunteer caregivers with information about the disease. The workshop contains a theoretical element to help volunteers to prepare to take care of dementia patients while also taking care of themselves. It also contains a simulation element, which takes place in a simulated apartment and which aims to provide training on techniques for ensuring that the person who receives the home-based treatment can be kept safe. Pilot workshops were immensely successful with participants, and the workshops will, therefore, be repeated in 2018, while their content will be expanded to cover new topics.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]