Age Friendly Cold Lake (AFCL) is operating a day program, called Hope Harbour, as a way for caregivers to get a bit of a break—even if only for a few hours at a time.
A caregiver role can be all-encompassing and time-consuming. As such, caregivers often find themselves neglecting their own self-care. It can be physically and mentally exhausting.
Caregivers can bring their care recipients—often, but not always a family member or loved one—to Hope Harbour for some suitable group activities. The caregiver can stay and enjoy the help and company of others, or they can take a few hours for themselves.
“Hope Harbour is a program where we do light exercising, we do brain-healthy games, we enjoy a nice meal, and then in the afternoons we do recreation, crafts, or music,” said AFCL executive director Cathy Aust.
The afternoons are flexible, she said.
“The afternoon kind of changes up depending on what we’re doing. We may even watch a movie one day, who knows?”
The Hope Harbour program runs from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm, on different days and different locations. There are three per month in Cold Lake, and a new one is starting in Bonnyville.
“In Cold Lake, Cold Lake Community Church is the first and third Wednesday of each month, 10 to 3.
And the second Wednesday of each month is Points West Living, also 10 to 3,” Aust said.
The Bonnyville session is on the fourth Tuesday of each month at the French Cultural Centre.
Aust says caregivers are welcome to stay a bit and help their people settle in.
“When they bring their person to the program, if they want to stay for a few minutes and make sure everything’s comfortable, then great, that’s fine,” she said. “And then they can go off for five hours and do whatever they want to do.
“Maybe they want to get a haircut. Maybe they just want to go home and sleep or rest or clean the house or whatever. And then the person that they bring obviously gets really good care.”
The caregiver has the option of staying if they want to. “If the caregiver decides that they want to stay, that’s open. But the intention behind it is that they actually go and they take a break for themselves,” Aust said.
AFCL is also planning to run three caregiver support groups. Two of these will be in Cold Lake, and one in Bonnyville.
Registration is required.
For more information or to register for these and other programs, AFCL can be reached at (780) 594-5666, email admin@agefriendlycoldlake.ca.
