Supporting Caregivers in Home and Community Care

There are four million caregivers in Ontario—people caring for caring for family members, partners, friends, and neighbours. 

Many caregivers support people at home and in their community. They are essential partners on the care team and play a critical role ensuring the safety, health, and well-being of the person they care for – and their ability to remain living in their home. 

Evidence shows that when care settings identify, include and support caregivers as part of the care team, it can lead to improved health outcomes, better care experiences and reduced health system pressures.

Caregivers at Risk

Many caregivers experience stress and burnout, making it difficult for them to continue in their caregiving role. Caregivers are also at greater risk of feelings of isolation, depression, and long-term health conditions. This poses a risk to the health and well-being of caregivers as well as the person they support.  

Adding to this issue is the fact that many caregivers face barriers to support or are unaware that help is available in the first place.

Caregiver burnout can result in:

Increased client hospital usage and need for in-home services
Negative impact on client health outcomes
Earlier long-term care placement

Caregivers need support to care successfully for others. Home and community care professionals can play a key role in identifying caregivers and connecting them with the support they need. 

This resource is a framework that identifies and categorizes supports to address the diverse needs of caregivers. Home and community organizations can use it to identify types of caregiver support, and possible gaps in service.

Home and Community Care Service Providers Can Support Caregivers by:

Asking caregivers how they are doing. These tips for providers can help team members identify caregivers and connect them to support.
Connecting caregivers to local support and the OCO. This resource outlines how you can identify and connect caregivers to support in your work. It also includes common challenges caregivers face in Ontario, and potential interventions you can start with.
Assessing caregiver needs and their capacity to provide care
Involving caregivers in care and service plans
Referring caregivers to the Ontario Caregiver Helpline and directing them to ontariocaregiver.ca
Providing caregivers with a copy of OCO’s I Am A Caregiver Toolkit, which has been translated and/or adapted for multiple diverse communities

Read

Related Resources

Find useful resources on this topic.

Resource Library

Caregivers are Essential in Home and Community Care

5 mins
(689 KB)

Download

Addressing Caregiver Distress: Simple Strategies to Support Caregiver Well-Being in Home and Community Care

5 mins
(6 MB)

Download

Connecting Caregivers to Support at Point of Care

20 mins
(8 MB)

Download

Landscape of Caregiver Support in Ontario

(2 MB)

Download

We’re Available to Meet

If you are a healthcare organization interested in learning more about how we work with care settings to support and include caregivers, contact us to schedule a 30-minute introductory session.

Try these pages next

Caregivers and Ontario Health Teams

Find resources and educational material to help integrate care partners into your care setting

Ontario Caregiver Helpline

Organizations and service providers can refer caregivers to the Ontario Caregiver Helpline, a 24/7 service for caregiver information and referral.

Am I a Caregiver?

Supports for Caregivers

Tools for Caregivers