Navigating our often fragmented systems of support and care in Canada can be an arduous task. On their own, many caregivers struggle to find and access services. Family caregivers spend 15%–50% of their time on the structural burden of care, trying to access to needed services, and then to coordinate and manage these services over time. Dr. Laura Funkargues argues that Canadians vastly underestimate the economic and social costs involved — including the stress and frustration generated, and for caregivers, the time spent taking care of themselves and their loved ones, or in paid employment. While more integrated health and community services grounded in the preferences and needs of both frontline service providers, clients, and family caregivers (reduced silos) would be ideal, progress on integration has been slow. This webinar aims to answer the question, “What is needed to help family caregivers navigate our systems of support and care?”

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Speaker: Dr. Barb Pesut – NAV-Care TrainingVolunteers to Assist Family Caregivers to Navigate Health and Community/Social Care Systems

Dr. Barb Pesut, Professor, University of British Columbia, is a Tier1 Principal Research Chair in Palliative and End-of-Life Care. She leads Nav-CARE, an intervention in which volunteers, who are trained in navigation, provide services for older persons living at home with chronic illnesses to improve their quality of life.

Speakers: Dr.Anthony Levitt and Sugy Kodeeswaran – The Family Navigation Project at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre

Dr. Anthony Levitt, MD, FRCP(C), is Chief of the Hurvitz Brain Sciences Centre and the Medical Director of the Family NavigationProject at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre. Sugy Kodeeswaran is the Executive Director of the Family Navigation Project at Sunnybrook. The Family Navigation Project (FNP) is a team of experts that helps teens, young adults and/or their families navigate the system more easily to find and gain access to resources (e.g. service providers and treatment centers).

Speaker: Sonia Hsiung – Canadian Directions in Social Prescribing

Sonia Hsiung is Director at the Canadian Institute for Social Prescribing at Canadian Red Cross. Sonia Managed the successful completion of social prescribing research pilot in Community Health Centres across Ontario. This aims to implement a structured way of connecting clinical care and community-based social supports to address the social determinants of health, with a particular focus on loneliness and social isolation. The asset-based and equity-focused pilot showed promising results in decreased loneliness, improved mental health, and an increased sense of connectedness, purpose, and belonging. Fostered engagement and partnership across diverse health, community, social service, and arts and culture sectors to deepen and scale this work.