Every once in a while, we like to take a look at what other countries do when it comes to senior care and how they treat the elderly members of their community. Some places do things very differently than what we see here in the United States. Some of those ideas are not realistic to implement here in the U.S., while other ideas are quite inspiring.
One place that has received some attention when it comes to senior care–and health care in general–is Canada. Canada has a bad reputation when it comes to health care in some people’s eyes, and in other eye, Canada is what the United States should be aspiring toward because of the universal access to care that their citizens have.
Wherever you stand on the issue, it is worth noting that Canadians see many of the same difficulties and hurdles when it comes to caring for their elderly. For example, the loss of income connected to providing family care is a very real issue in Canada, just like it is here. One estimate says that Canadian lose about $27 billion Canadian, or $19.8 billion in U.S. dollars, each year because of lost income connected to caring for an older loved one, usually a parent. And just like in the U.S., this number is likely a conservative estimate because it doesn’t take into account opportunity cost like missed job promotions, bonuses, or other forms of advancement.
Also like the U.S., there was a clear difference between men and women. Women were reported to take about 30 percent more time off to care for a parent than men did. Women missed, on average, 10 hours per week of work to provide senior care. Men only missed about 8 hours. We know that this gender gap is an issue in other ways, too. But when it comes to senior care, women tend to lose far more than men monetarily.
In some ways, it’s nice to know that we are not alone in the struggle to provide the best care possible for our moms and dads. It is a universal issue, and even countries where health care is applied more completely, there are ongoing struggles.
In other ways, this is very frustrating. It shows that we need to be far more proactive when it comes to helping our families. Some people struggle with this because of lack of knowledge, not knowing where to turn to for help, feelings of being overwhelmed, or for a variety of other reasons. That’s actually one of the reasons why I write this blog. If I can help a handful of people know what their care options are and help them figure out what the best choices are for their family, then the struggles that so many families around the world go through can be lessened for those people.
Some people are well equipped to be family caregivers. These people love their family member, do not mind losing the work hours, and have the skills needed to be great caregivers. But even these people can get overwhelmed by the sheer amount of work needed. Knowing what your options are and having a backup plan in place will go a long way toward helping you care for your family.
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