Date: Monday, November 30, 2020
Time: 1:00 – 2:00 pm
Location: The webinar link will be shared with you via email prior to the session start time.

During this pandemic, the rights of caregivers to visit family and friends in long-term care (LTC) have been increasingly unclear.

This webinar will explore the rights of caregivers during COVID19, particularly about visiting loved ones in LTC both when an outbreak is occurring and when it is not. Participants will learn the governing legislation and regulations, how to navigate blockages with LTC administration and what your rights really are.

Facilitator:  Laura Tamblyn Watts, president and CEO of CanAge, Canada’s Seniors Advocacy Organization, is a highly sought after expert regarding matters involving older adults in Canada and around the world. She also teaches at the University of Toronto, where she is also a Fellow of the Institute for Lifecourse and Aging.

Registration required. University of Toronto students, staff, faculty, postdoctoral fellows, and their partners are welcome. If you have any access needs to ensure your full participation in this event, please contact the Family Care Office and we will try our best to work with you and make appropriate arrangements.

Date: Thursday, October 15, 2020
Time: 12:00 – 1:30 pm
Location: The webinar link will be shared with you via email prior to the session start time.

This workshop will provide family caregivers with an overview of Alzheimer’s disease focusing on the importance of early diagnosis and illustrates the progression of the disease.

For family caregivers related to a person living with dementia.

Topics:

• Differentiate between Alzheimer’s disease and Dementia
• Recognize the warning signs of dementia versus changes related to normal aging
• Learn how to get a diagnosis
• Identify ways to help reduce the stigma around dementia

Workshop will be presented using Zoom.

Facilitator:  Nouchine Davarpanah, Public Education Coordinator, Alzheimer Society of Toronto

Registration required. University of Toronto students, staff, faculty, postdoctoral fellows, and their partners are welcome. If you have any access needs to ensure your full participation in this event, please contact the Family Care Office and we will try our best to work with you and make appropriate arrangements.

Date: Monday, February 24, 2020
Time: 12:00 – 1:30 pm
Location: Koffler Student Services Centre, 214 College St., Room 313

Caregiving is very special. Watching someone you love become ill and gradually lose his/her memory and abilities can be very hard on you as well as your family. You need to take care of yourself and make sure that you stay healthy.

This workshop will focus on:

• What are some of the risks of caregiving?
• What are some of the rewards and joys of caregiving?
• We will also address resources and navigating the system.

Facilitator: Elaine Kohn, MSW, RSW, Social Worker, and Susana Braslavski, MSW, RSW, Social Worker in Seniors Counselling and Referral Services at Baycrest Geriatric Health Care System 

Registration required. University of Toronto students, staff, faculty, and their partners are welcome. If you have any access needs to ensure your full participation in this event (examples might include sign language interpretation, mobility issues, or any other accommodations), please contact the Family Care Office and we will work with you to make appropriate arrangements.

Date: Thursday, January 16, 2020
Time: 12:00 – 1:30 pm
Location: Koffler Student Services Centre, 214 College St., Room 313

Learn and practice resilience based coping strategies that can help you and your family retain balance in your daily life!

Caring for a loved one is rewarding, but it also involves many changes and demands. Aging adults, especially those suffering from illness, disability or dementia, need special care that respects their well-being needs as well as our own. Building resilience is ensuring that you are prepared in times of high stress.

In this session, you will:

• Learn self-care strategies.
• Discover where you invest most of your physical and emotional energy and whether it’s productive.
• Uncover your coping style and learn practical tools that will help you and your family be more resilient in times of stress.

Facilitator: Anna Wesolinska is a Registered Gestalt Psychotherapist with a Masters degree in Adult Education and Community Development. She has a private practice and has been running workshops at the Gestalt Institute of Toronto, the North York Women’s Centre, and the Family Care Office at the University of Toronto.  She uses a variety of therapeutic techniques including Psychodrama, Drawing, Playback Theatre, and Mindfulness based interventions. Her therapy practice includes adults, couples and adolescents working through a broad range of relationship issues such as loss, conflict, trauma, life transitions, chronic health problems, body and identity concerns, post-partum challenges as well as working through blocks in creativity.

Registration required. University of Toronto students, staff, faculty, and their partners are welcome. If you have any access needs to ensure your full participation in this event (examples might include sign language interpretation, mobility issues, or any other accommodations), please contact the Family Care Office and we will work with you to make appropriate arrangements

Date: Friday, November 22, 2019
Time: 12:00 – 1:30 pm
Location: University of Toronto Scarborough, Environmental Sciences and Chemistry Building, EV152, Catalyst Centre, 1st Floor

 This workshop presented by the Central East Local Health Integration Network (LHIN) will:

• Discuss in-home and community services available to assist you in providing care to an elderly person
• Provide you with information on the application process for admission into a long term care home and other community housing options
• Address caregiver stress and burnout with a focus on proving specific coping strategies

Facilitator:  Sheri McKeen, Community Education and Outreach Representative with the Central East Local Health Integration Network

Registration required. University of Toronto students, staff, faculty, postdoctoral fellows and their families are welcome.  If you have any access needs to ensure your full participation in this event (examples might include sign language interpretation, mobility issues, or any other accommodations), please contact the Family Care Office and we will work with you to make appropriate arrangements

Date:  Wednesday, October 16, 2019
Time:  12:00 – 1:30 pm
Location:  Koffler Student Services Centre, 214 College St., Room 313

This workshop discusses myths and facts of Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. It is an interactive workshop that provides the opportunity for open discussion and questions regarding dementia.

Learning Objectives:

• Understand what are myths and facts about dementia
• Understand signs and symptoms of dementia
• Understand some of the research findings on reducing the risk of developing dementia
• Recognize that lifestyle plays a role in reducing a person’s risk of developing dementia

Facilitator:  Nouchine Davarpanah, Public Education Coordinator, Alzheimer Society of Toronto

Registration required. University of Toronto students, staff, faculty, and their partners are welcome. Please let us know if you have any mobility challenges so we can accommodate your needs

Date: Friday, April 12, 2019
Time: 12:00 – 2:00 pm (presentation for 45 minutes followed by a question and answer period)
Location: Davis Building, UTM Room (formerly named Faculty Club), Room 3140

Trying to find the government, community and private resources to assist you to care for your aging relative in the home can be overwhelming. Who do you start with and what is available?

In this session, Zoe Levitt, M.S.W., R.S.W will guide you through:

• The types of services and resources that are available for your elder relatives who are still living in their own homes
• Finding and selecting available home care supports
• How to access these supports and the costs that might be involved
• Bring your individual questions/concerns and ask the facilitator for her advice

Facilitator: Zoe Levitt is an Elder Care Consultant with a Masters’ Degree in Social Work. She has been working with the elderly in their homes and in hospitals for more than 25 years.

Registration required. University of Toronto students, staff, faculty, and their partners are welcome. Please let us know if you have any mobility challenges so we can accommodate your needs.

Date: Wednesday, March 13, 2019
Time: 12:00 – 1:30 pm
Location: Koffler Student Services Centre, 214 College St., Room 313

In this workshop presented by Parkinson Canada, the facilitator will:

• Provide a brief overview of Parkinson’s disease
• Review the motor and non-motor symptoms of Parkinson’s
• Explain the importance of taking medications on time
• Provide tips for caregivers as they support their loved ones with day to day living and with medications
• Discuss the supports provided by Parkinson Canada.

Facilitator: Maria Marano is the Community Development Coordinator for the Greater Toronto Area at Parkinson Canada. She is responsible for overseeing the support groups within the region as well as conducting Parkinson’s disease education and advocacy. She completed her M.Sc. at the University of Toronto where she studied the biological mechanisms of Parkinson’s disease at the Tanz Centre for Research in Neurodegenerative Diseases.

Date: Tuesday, January 29, 2019
Time: 12:00 – 1:30 pm
Location: Koffler Student Services Centre, 214 College St., Room 313

This is a workshop for family caregivers who are coming to the difficult realization that their elderly loved one may no longer be able to live in their current home and may have to relocate to a care facility.

Join, Esther Goldstein, social worker and author of Comprehensive Guide to Retirement Living®, as she explores:

• How you discuss relocating with your loved one
• The emotional aspects for both the caregiver and the loved one
• The options for lifestyle choices from in-home supports to a facility
• Retirement homes and long-term care homes

Facilitator: Esther Goldstein is a social worker and author of the Comprehensive Guide to Retirement Living®. She worked as a hospital social worker in the GTA primarily with the geriatric population, and now currently works full-time on her publication and the affiliated website www.senioropolis.com

Registration required. University of Toronto students, staff, faculty, and their partners are welcome. Please let us know if you have any mobility challenges so we can accommodate your needs.

Date: Thursday, January 17, 2019
Time: 11:30 am – 12:30 pm
Location: Koffler Student Services Centre, 214 College St., Room 313

In this session, Mike Barnes, author of Be With: Letters to a Caregiver will present some of the main themes of his book. The focus will be on dementia caregiving, but also touch on issues relevant to any caring relationship. These issues include: being alertly present (Be); sharing presence with another (With); how and how far to respect autonomy; learning from inevitable mistakes; balancing information and compassion; recovering simple fundamentals: music, touch, shared silence, nature; dementia as a process of continual change (including, at times, change for the better); adjusting on the fly, under pressure.

The presentation will thus consist of half a dozen segments, each with a topic briefly discussed and illustrated by a passage from the book. Mike will then open it up to questions and discussion, in the hopes of exchanging ideas and experiences about dementia and caregiving, along with any other topics that might have arisen of interest.

Facilitator: Mike Barnes is the author of ten books of poetry, short fiction, novels, and memoir. He has won the Danuta Gleed Award and a National Magazine Award Silver Medal for his short fiction, and the Edna Staebler Award for non-fiction. He lives in Toronto.

For more information on Mike Barnes, please see this CBC article.

Registration required. University of Toronto students, staff, faculty, and their partners are welcome. Please let us know if you have any mobility challenges so we can accommodate your needs.