This blog was written by Alison Kilbourn, Manager of the Ontario Caregiver Organization’s
Essential Care Partner Support Hub and Bianca Feitelberg, Project Lead, Strategic Partnerships and Innovation at the Ontario Caregiver Organization.
To better understand the types of support available to Ontario’s 4 million caregivers, we collaborated with Collective Results (CR). Caregivers are ordinary people who provide physical and emotional support to a family member, partner, friend or neighbour, and support refers to various services, resources, and assistance provided to individuals who are taking care of someone with health conditions, disabilities, or age-related needs.
Collective Results conducted a province-wide environmental scan, interviewed key informants, and facilitated focus groups with Ontario caregivers to identify and categorize the types of support available across the province. They found that support could be categorized into 13 types and that there were consistent gaps in access for some types. CR also identified inequities in service access specifically with regard to regional disparities, cultural and language barriers, technological challenges, and cost affordability.
Our partnership with Collective Results contributed well to achieving these outcomes. The collaboration was characterized by a great working relationship and a very collaborative approach. CR was professional and responsive, the turn-around time was impressive, and the project was managed with efficiency. Their ability to deliver and meet our organizational needs, especially within a short timeline, was commendable.
This work was a starting point for building awareness around the types of support available to caregivers and the gaps and inequities that they are experiencing. We learned how and when caregivers want to receive this kind of information. This work can help inform health system planning for caregiver support in providing the opportunity to identify services available in specific regions, possible gaps in services, and create options to build caregiver support into their access and navigation models and service plans.
Our collaboration with Collective Results has laid a strong foundation for future initiatives and provides a starting point for organizations and health system planners to plan for caregiver supports. By continuing to build on this work, we hope to enhance the support system for caregivers in Ontario.