Caregivers
You are a caregiver if you provide physical and/or emotional care to another person who is not well. This includes a person who is receiving care and treatment for a cancer diagnosis. This handout offers information and supports for caregivers.
It can be stressful to be a caregiver. You may need to be a caregiver for weeks, months or even years. It is not something you expect or plan for. It often involves taking on new responsibilities. At times you may feel unprepared or overwhelmed. You may have a lot of questions and concerns or be unsure what to expect or what to do next. Caregiving can be very rewarding. You may feel a closer bond with the person you care for and find strength you did not know you had.
As a caregiver, it is important to take care of your physical and emotional health. This helps you have the strength you need to be a caregiver.
Read the Canadian Cancer Society’s booklet on Being a Caregiver to Someone with Cancer.
How to take care of yourself as a caregiver
Access support
Talk to another person about your experience as a caregiver. This may include a family member, friend, social worker, counsellor, or others in a caregiver support group. Tell this person about any feelings you have.
Learn what caregiving tasks are needed
Make a list of your caregiving responsibilities (what you need to do). How much care and support the person needs may change over time. The person may need less care and support as they get stronger and healthier after treatment is finished. The person may need more care over time if their cancer is advanced.
Set limits
You may need to set limits. Ask yourself:
- What caregiving responsibilities can I manage along with other responsibilities (examples: at home, work, school)?
- Are there others I can ask to help with some of the caregiving responsibilities?
It may be helpful to see what other resources and supports are available to you.
Resources and supports available to you
Practical supports and tools
A care coordinator from Ontario Health atHome will help plan for care and services in your home. For more information, call 1-800-263-3877 or 310-2222 or go to the website. A referral from the healthcare team is not needed.
My Cancer Circle (online tool)
Offers a free, online tool to help manage the list of people who want to help with caregiving responsibilities.
Offers support services to people who have young children. These services include child-care, meal support, homework help, and peer connections.
Offers a free online tool to help you create a personalized plan to improve your overall health and wellbeing as a caregiver.
Caregiver information and supports (listed in alphabetical order)
Offers mental, emotional, financial and educational supports to African, Caribbean, Black Canadians and their caregivers.
Offers online support groups and one-on-one support for caregivers of people living with bladder cancer.
Offers an online community to connect people with cancer and their caregivers with others who know what they are going through. For more information, email cancerconnection@cancer.ca or go to the website.
Ontario Health - Cancer Care Ontario
Offers a toolkit with resources and information for First Nations, Métis and Inuit people who require palliative care support.
Canadian Mesothelioma Foundation
Offers facilitated discussion groups for caregivers of people living with mesothelioma.
Offers practical guides and a list of available supports and services for caregivers.
Offers educational guides and a support group for caregivers of people living with colorectal cancer.
Offers a caregiver support group. This group discusses topics such as: managing at home, self-care, alternative or complementary treatments, healthy lifestyle choices, and dealing with emotions.
Hearth Place Cancer Support Centre
Offers individual and group support, education and wellness programs for caregivers. The support group helps caregivers develop self-care tools to reduce stress, change negative self-talk, communicate their needs to others, manage difficult feelings and help with decision-making. For more information, call 905-579-4833 or go to the website.
Indigenous Navigator for the Central East Regional Cancer Program
Can offer support to you if you:
- Identify as having Indigenous ancestry,
- Identify as having First Nation, Metis or Inuit heritage.
- Have Indigenous cultural needs.
For more information, call 905-576-8711 extension 32554 or email kmacleodbeaver@lh.ca.
Offers an online discussion forum for caregivers of people living with kidney cancer.
L’Chaim Cancer Support Program
Offers 1 to 1 support for caregivers of Jewish women living with cancer.
Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Canada
Offers online support groups and peer-to-peer telephone support for caregivers of people living with a blood cancer.
Offers a support group for caregivers of people living with lung cancer. For more information, go to the website and navigate to “resources” and select group support.
Offers 1 to 1 peer support for caregivers of people living with lymphoma.
Offers 1 to 1 peer support for caregivers of people living with melanoma.
Offers online and in-person peer support groups for caregivers of people living with myeloma.
Ontario Caregiver Organization
Offers 1 to 1 support, peer group support, practical resources and toolkits to help you organize your caregiver responsibilities. They also offer a helpline that provides 24/7 support by phone or as an online chat.
Handouts available on the website:
- I am a Caregiver
- I am a Caregiver (adapted for Indigenous People)
- Work and Caregiving: A Balancing Act
Pancreatic Cancer: Craig’s Cause Pancreatic Cancer Society
Offers a support group for caregivers of people living with pancreatic cancer.
Prostate Cancer Canada Network – Side by Side
Offers a peer support group for caregivers of people living with prostate cancer. For more information, call 416-932-8820, email info@pcstoronto.ca.
Offers 1 to 1 peer mentorship, peer support groups, a 24/7 helpline and information for young adult caregivers.
Young Adult Cancer Canada (YACC)
Offers a private Facebook group for caregivers of young adults living with cancer.
Offers support and wellness programs for caregivers to people living with cancer.
Education for Caregivers
Central East Self-Management Program
Offers workshops to help you manage stress and build the skills needed to care for yourself as you care for another person.
Offers a series of online learning modules with information and strategies to help you build the skills you need as a caregiver.
Hospice Palliative Care Ontario
Offers an online, self-learning program for caregivers. For First Nations Caregiver Education, go to the website found at caregiversupport.hpco.ca/ocpfn
Offers an online course with information and resources to help you care for a person living with a serious illness. Topics include: the role of the caregiver, communication skills, advance care planning, providing personal care, and self-care.
Caregiving and Work
If you need time away from work to provide care for someone who is ill, there may be financial support available to you. The Federal Government offers two benefits through Employment Insurance: The Family Caregiver Benefit and the Compassionate Care Benefit.
For more information, read the handout: “Financial Supports”.
Counselling
Being a caregiver to a person living with cancer can come with challenges that are unique to you and your personal experience. Accessing individual counselling can help you learn how to manage these challenges.
Offers a team of therapists who have lived and professional experience supporting caregivers of people living with cancer.
For more information about other community or private counselling services available to you, read the handout: “Cancer Information and Supports”.
Ask to talk to a social worker at the cancer centre if you have questions or concerns about any information in this handout.
You may choose to print a copy of the "Information and Supports for Caregivers" handout. This handout includes the same information as found on this web page. This list is for information only and may change at any time. The Central East Regional Cancer Program does not represent or support any organization or individual on this list.