On April 16 we celebrated National Advance Care Planning Day in Canada. This day is celebrated to promote conversations about your wishes and values for your future healthcare.

It is best to think about Advance Care Planning (ACP) when you are young and healthy, and have more control over your future plans. When you are young, you have the time to really reflect on what is important to you, and express to those closest to you what your aging journey looks like to you.

With ACP, you can decide if keeping your independence and aging in place is important to you, or if a long-term care home better suits your needs.

Advance care planning is all about recognizing your options early on. Of course in some instances, sickness and/or injury can happen abruptly giving you less time to consider options. That is why ACP is so important to think about when you are healthy.  You can make clear decisions on your behalf. 

Planning for your health and personal care is a way to document your wants and needs without putting people in difficult positions.

Leaving it to your family and friends is not the best idea as they are not mind-readers. What works for them or how they picture their lives as they age may not align with the values and beliefs you hold true.

Therefore, being able to communicate is crucial in making sure your aging journey plays out the way you intended. Of course there will be obstacles and roadblocks along the way, but having a general plan always makes the future path a little less scary.

It is human nature to assume we have more time. But in reality, time goes by quickly sometimes surprising us as we age.

It is good practice to plan ahead, lay out your options, and have your opinions heard. Long-term care homes or retirement homes are not for everyone – so speak your truth and discuss what is important to you personally as you begin your aging journey. 

If aging in place is your goal (and staying in your home that holds so many of your memories is the path you wish to take), let that be known! Keep documents and plan how you see your final days playing out. If it is at home surrounded by your family and friends, be comfortable with communicating that to your loved ones.

When considering your personal future, or as a family caregiver, it is important to do your research and know all your options. Many services, such as iAccompany, help support independence for aging adults, while still providing them the care they need as they age. 

With iAccompany, we give families more options when it comes to the care of their aging loved ones. If aging in place is important to you, or a family member you know, be sure to reach out to us directly at www.iaccompany.net.

You may be sitting at home thinking ‘I’m still young and healthy, why would I need to do advance care planning?’ 

Think again!

Life is unexpected. Things happen that we have no control over, but we can control how we react. Advance care planning gives your loved ones peace of mind because they will be confident that they are doing what you request. 

By communicating your needs, you allow them to make decisions on your behalf that they know you will be comfortable with – which will put them at ease in any situation.

So don’t hesitate – start thinking about your future now by reflecting and communicating what matters most to you on your aging journey. 

Guest Writer: Jackson Charron

Hi, I’m Jackson and I am the Business Development Specialist at iAccompany.

For the past eight years, I have loved my time working with aging adults in numerous roles. My goal is to always take a person-centered approach when helping aging adults, and I am driven to make sure seniors get the care they deserve. 

Growing up I spent a lot of time with my grandfather and beautiful grandmother. We would bake every weekend, have sleepovers, and watch TV while I ate an entire tray of jello. 

I won’t say she is the woman who inspired me to work with aging adults, because she looks and acts so young. Growing up with my mother and my grandmother, I was raised around a lot of respect, compassion, and love. These are values I hold close to me when providing care or helping others create a solid care plan for their aging loved one. 

I started working with aging adults in a personal care home, where I planned activities for and got to know many of the residents.

I wasn’t going to work everyday – I was going to spend time with 50 of my best friends. Throughout my time working in long-term care, I made a lot of long lasting relationships with the residents and their family members. 

One day, a really good friend of mine that I cared for, Jack, was being discharged to another facility. We decided to exchange numbers and keep in touch. About six months after Jack moved out of our facility, his sister and brother-in-law asked me if I would be willing to help their brother Jack get to Arborg, MB for one last weekend of fishing. 

Due to his stroke, getting 50 feet from a care home is already a mission in itself, but I agreed to help and we had a great weekend. Now that I am working for iAccompany, I continue to apply the same values I did as a full time caregiver.

Having first-hand experience working in a personal care home, and creating lifelong relationships with the residents and their families, has enabled me to learn much along the way.

One of them is that nothing beats the family home that their children were born and raised in. 

One family had so many special memories from their Wolseley home, that they created a picture book and tried to have it published. Their father and I really enjoyed that book and reminiscing on those memories. 

I was sad to move on from my caregiving role but I was welcomed into a new role with iAccompany. My transition from caregiver to business development has been great as I still get to assist the aging community – just in a new way. 

My new role allows me to use my knowledge and understanding of long-term care to help give aging parents and their families more options. 

What I love about iAccompany is that the service provides aging adults the opportunity to stay in the homes they love so much, and to me that is priceless.

With iAccompany, I am able to assist aging adults and their families in navigating their journeys. I do this by finding the right solutions needed for aging-related challenges – it is a great opportunity to help families and seniors from all walks of life and I am so grateful for that. 

At iAccompany, we know through personal experience the difficulties associated with being actively involved in the healthcare of aging parents. After looking for help and not finding a solution, we came to realize we needed to come up with our own solution for the problems we faced. 

We designed a custom-built application, where we can facilitate interactions between the patient, doctor, and a nursing professional to improve the quality of medical appointments.

I personally want to see seniors thriving and living the best life they can, even with all the challenges life presents. Thanks to all the aging adults that I have had the pleasure of working with, their ample years of wisdom have made me the person I am today.

If you would like to learn more about our service visit www.iaccompany.ca, or email me directly at jcharron@iaccompany.ca.  I would be more than happy to have a conversation and help guide your family in the right direction on your aging journey.

If you know someone who is reaching a stage in their life that is posing more challenges, let’s work together to find the best solution for your loved one. Aging or the progression of illness is not a path you need to walk alone – iAccompany is here to help.

Check us out if you would like peace of mind when
you can’t be there for a loved one’s medical appointment.
Our nursing professionals take away all the anxiety of the unknowns,
and we put you in the room with your loved one when life makes it difficult.

In this week’s blog we will discuss in more detail the three pillars of our service. 

iAccompany is a technology based healthcare service that schedules nursing professionals to accompany your loved ones to their doctor’s appointments. We know life gets busy, and sometimes you cannot be there to physically attend appointments with your aging parents.  We created the solution that allows you to still be involved, even when your calendar makes it difficult.

Being unable to attend a loved one’s medical appointments was a recurring circumstance that our founders experienced in their personal lives.   This inability to be there for their loved ones prompted them to create a service to help.

iAccompany is built on our 3 main pillars, which we will discuss in further detail below.

Enhanced Care

“Improving healthcare appointment outcomes with door-to-door accompaniment. We have you covered – from accessible transport vehicles to an informed appointment report.”

Our service is designed to provide your loved ones with more than just transportation. 

By having a qualified and experienced nurse accompany your loved one, we give them and you the peace of mind that they are in capable and professional hands.

Our nursing professionals will accompany your loved one from their house, during their appointment with the doctor, and then safely back to their residence following the appointment. 

Our experienced transport partners are equipped with accessible vehicles, which makes it possible for your loved one to safely attend their appointment. Notes of their specific needs can be recorded in their profile to ensure the nursing professional is prepared for whatever extra care they may need. 

Post appointment activities such as prescription refills or bloodwork, are all included in the service – allowing you to rest easy knowing that your loved ones are in good hands.

The report you receive following the appointment includes all the details of what was discussed, eliminating miscommunication. You can rest easy knowing they have the best care while still keeping you informed to make the appropriate health decisions with them moving forward.

Trusted Service

“Our nursing professionals are compassionate, highly competent, and experienced in accommodating the challenges your loved ones face.”

It is our duty to provide you the best possible care for your loved ones. That’s why our nursing professionals are vetted, qualified, and experienced in the challenges aging adults face. 

Adult children can book a caring and passionate iAccompany nurse who will treat your loved one as their own, and be a friendly face for them in a sometimes nerve-wracking environment. 

We know that caregivers often have feelings of stress, burnout, and guilt as part of their role. It is not easy to give that responsibility to someone else as you feel “it is your duty” as a son or daughter.

However, the caregiver stress you carry is often not healthy and can create long-term problems for both your physical and mental health. 

You can rest assured knowing that our nursing professional will be diligent in keeping your loved one safe, and has their best interest in mind.

As a member of the Long Term & Continuing Care Association of Manitoba, we take pride in providing a service that helps both aging adults and their families. LTCAM has been a valued adviser and partner in the promotion of safe care and living options for seniors living in Manitoba since 1959.

Built for Busy People

“Navigate with ease through our website or app to book an appointment in just a few clicks. Perfectly designed to work with busy schedules and geographically distant loved ones.”

A key pillar of our service is to help serve families who may not be geographically located close to their loved ones. Whether you live in a different province or country, by using iAccompany you can stay connected to your aging parents no matter how many kilometres separate you.

Adult children are sometimes referred to as the “sandwich generation” and have a lot on their plate. Between taking care of their own children, balancing a career, and taking care of their aging parents, it is easy to become stressed and overwhelmed by the never-ending responsibilities.

That’s why we incorporated enabling technology into our service to make the booking process quick and simple.

By creating a profile on our website, you can book appointments from the comfort of your home. Using either our website or mobile app, you can set the date, time, and pickup location for your loved one. 

Throughout the appointment, you can conveniently track the ride and see when your loved one returns home safely.  Within 24 hours of your loved one’s safe arrival at home, you will be able to access the confidential report detailing both what took place in the examination room and trip and post appointment activities.  This private and secure link will appear on your account, accessible from either the mobile app or using the website.

Your profile allows you to go back and see a record of their last appointment, or to make any changes to their current health plan as a result of what the doctor may have noted. Our pillars are an important part of who we are, and how we can help families .

We know life can get busy and you can’t always be there yourself, so we created a service to help.

Instead of stressing about leaving work early or missing your kids soccer game, book an appointment with iAccompany. Use your time spending quality time and making memories with your loved one, and leave the rest to us. 

If our pillars resonate with you or someone you know,
be sure to visit www.iaccompany.net and
connect with an iAccompany associate today.

If you are unfamiliar with the term, the “sandwich generation” is a group of middle-aged adults who are responsible for providing care to both their aging parents and their own children. It is a  difficult job performed by many people everyday.  It often takes a toll on the people caught in the middle.

According to Statistics Canada, more than two million Canadians are a part of the sandwich generation. They account for 28 percent of all caregivers in the country, with the majority of them being women between the age of 35 and 44. 

Specifically, the mothers of this age cohort feel more stress than other members of this age group. Mothers are known to put their family needs first, which usually comes at a cost to themselves personally. Not being able to accomplish certain tasks, or not meeting the demands of their ever-demanding calendar can lead to extreme stress if not dealt with properly.

In this blog, we will discuss five of the challenges that folks in the sandwich generation often face.

• Added Stress

Stress and anxiety are strong emotions felt by members of the sandwich generation. Due to responsibilities that could include worrying about your children, ensuring your parents are safe and healthy, juggling work efforts, staying active, and so on – it is easy to become overwhelmed. 

When stress becomes overwhelming, caregivers can often find themselves physically drained and their personal health suffers as a result. They are reported to have 23% higher levels of stress hormones and due to neglecting their personal health needs.  40.7% develop chronic diseases of their own.

• Financial Strains

Due to the constant demands of family caregiving, many people are required to take time away from work. Whether it be taking a few hours off to accompany your aging parent to the doctor, or taking a day to spend time with them and help them with household chores, it is still time away from the office that could affect their salary or wages. Thinking about creating a college fund for your kids, saving for your own retirement, and worrying about your aging parents’ expenses is a lot to have on your mind.

For many people, caregiving becomes a full-time responsibility which may cause some to take time away from work altogether. Whether you decide to commit to caregiving full-time, or decide to have your loved one leave their home and move into an assisted living or long-term care home, it costs a substantial amount of money either way – another stressful situation for the sandwich generation. 

• Balancing Career

In this day and age, the sandwich generation often consists of two full-time working parents. Between juggling taking care of their children, and caring for their aging parents, it is hard to be consistent and still progress in your career as well.

If you work from home or have a flexible work schedule it is more doable, however, not everyone has the kind of job or situation where this flexibility is possible. Stress outside of work can trickle into stress at work, and it might affect your career in the long run. Not having the time, energy, or focus to meet your targets might stunt your advancement opportunities. Not having balance makes life even more challenging for the sandwich generation to stay afloat. 

• Mental Health Suffers

Caregiver burnout is a term often discussed in the caregiving community. It is common for those in this position to feel alone and overwhelmed.  When left unchecked, caregiver burnout can lead to more serious issues down the road, such as anxiety, depression, substance abuse, or other health issues. 

We often hear the term “super mom” to identify the mothers that seem to do it all. However, this can be a gold standard that is often unrealistic if not very difficult to achieve. Much is expected of the sandwich generation and the goal is often to juggle all demands with ease – to stay organized, raise a family, look after aging parents, keep a tidy house, and have a colour-coded schedule. However, it is not always as it seems, as for many in the sandwich generation, keeping up takes a deep toll on their mental wellbeing.

• Making Time for Yourself 

It is common for those in the sandwich generation to put others’ needs ahead of their own. They become so engulfed in caring for their families, parents, and tending to their careers, that they forget to take care of their own physical and mental needs. Taking a walk, going to the gym, reading a book, or taking a bath seems like time wasted as there are always more “important” things to do. However, ignoring one’s personal physical and mental health is not sustainable and continuing to do so eventually leads to a breaking point.

At the end of the day, if you are not making time for yourself, you cannot provide the best care for others. Sometimes it is okay to say ‘no’, to understand your limits, and to prioritize your self-care over other aspects of your life. Your mind and body will thank you.

So with all these challenges, how can people in the sandwich generation cope? Taking time for yourself is essential to both your physical and mental well being.  There are professional services as well as time management techniques that members of the sandwich generation can employ to ensure loving care for their family and aging parents all the while managing career demands and maintaining a work-life balance that is healthy. Delegating tasks to professionals that care as much as you do, can help establish this balance.

That is how iAccompany was born.

Being in the sandwich generation themselves, led our founders to establish a service to help. 

Visit www.iaccompany.net and connect with us to see how our qualified nursing professionals can assist your loved one when it comes to their healthcare needs. 

The health of your loved one is an important topic as we often get busy and staying involved becomes a burden. However, our service allows you to stay connected to your loved one’s health care – even when you cannot be at their appointments yourself.

We understand life gets busy so we created a solution to help.

Tune in to our blog post next week on “Ways to Manage” that focuses
on solutions for the sandwich generation to consider.

If you are the primary caregiver of your aging parent – this is the blog for you! This week we are discussing five reasons you should start using iAccompany, and how our service helps alleviate the stress and burnout caregivers often feel.

Within the aging population, we often see adults go to retirement homes or long-term care facilities very early in their aging process. There are many reasons for this – one being that family may not be around to provide care for their loved one, or that they do not have the time or support to take on the full responsibilities and duties.

At iAccompany, we make aging in place possible. Whether you are strained by time or live in a different province or country than your aging parent – iAccompany lets you stay involved in their healthcare. 

1. Peace of mind

Our goal is to bring peace of mind to you and your family. Our service is designed to keep you informed through the whole process, which is why you can trace the entire appointment right from your phone. What makes us unique is that our nursing professionals not only transport your loved one to and from their appointment – but join the conversation between the doctor and your loved one. This eliminates any chance of misinterpretation or miscommunication when discussing their healthcare and the best practices moving forward.

The report you receive following the appointment is detailed and will review everything the doctor discussed – from diagnosis to next steps – and brings your loved one peace knowing they are not alone. Medical appointments can be stressful and nerve-wracking experiences for people to attend alone, but our nurses are passionate about their work and experienced in compassionate, professional care which makes for a perfect combination and outcome for your loved one. The report will give you the peace of mind knowing you have an accurate record of the doctor’s instructions, and helps you to make a more educated and informed decision about your loved one’s healthcare moving forward. 

2. Relieve caregiver burnout

Caregiver burnout is a strong emotion that is felt by many who provide care for aging parents or loved ones. It is important to practice self-care in all areas of your life, as you cannot provide quality care to others without taking care of yourself first. With mental health issues coming to the forefront, we must know when to ask for help. iAccompany was created to be that help when it comes to the healthcare of your aging loved ones..

Whether you are juggling your career, family life, your caregiving responsibilities, or anything else going on in your life, everyone reaches a breaking point. It is important to recognize when you are being affected, and to look for services that can alleviate that stress. At iAccompany, we created the necessary steps to ensure you can rest easy knowing your loved one is in capable and professional hands. We are not just a transportation service, but a healthcare service that will ensure your loved one is transported safely to and from their appointment, and get you the details you need for peace of mind when you can’t be there yourself. We know life can get busy, so our nursing professionals treat your loved one as their own, and relieve you of the stress and guilt that you may feel as a primary caregiver.

3. Allow your loved one to age in place

Aging in place is an important conversation when discussing senior care. Oftentimes, our aging parents are placed in retirement homes or long-term care homes long before they need to be. It is difficult for their physical and mental well-being to be taken from their home – which they have occupied for decades – and move them to a new setting around different people. Instead, let them age in place and hire services that make it possible to do so – like iAccompany.

By letting your loved one age in place, you provide them the opportunity to live independently, comfortably, in a home and community that they are familiar with. Their home is filled with memories that they will hold onto as they age, making for a smoother transition. Their physical and cognitive behaviour will benefit, while still getting them the help they need through accompaniment and care from professionals who are experts in the field.

4. Spend quality time with your loved one instead

When we become caregivers for our aging parents, it is easy to feel more like a nurse than a child. When burnout sets in, we often associate the stress of taking care of them with spending quality time. But that isn’t always the case.

With iAccompany, we give you your time back. Caregivers often worry about getting their loved ones to their doctors appointments – often scheduled during the day of a working week – which can be difficult to schedule around. Instead, delegate that care to our qualified nursing professional and spend quality time with your aging parent on your own schedule. By alleviating the stress around their healthcare and your attendance at their appointment, you can focus on more important memories. Focus more on scheduling time to take a walk together, cook a meal together, or spend time just chatting and relaxing – real quality time. 

5. Easy-to-use technology makes it simple!

The iAccompany user experience is designed to be simple and save time. Whether you login to your account from the website or mobile app, you can book appointments fast and download appointment reports even faster!

Our service and technology was designed for busy people. By setting up your loved one’s profile, you can personalize and add any details that may be important for the nursing professional to note. You can set your loved ones’ pick-up and drop-off location and save it for future appointments. Prior to the appointment, you can record any questions you wish to ask the doctor and will receive the full report through a secure link following the visit.

We know life can get busy, so we created a user-experience to reflect your needs. Create an account today and see for yourself!