L'Appui will invest $61 million from 2022 to 2025 to support 266 projects aimed at improving the quality of life of caregivers of seniors in Quebec. This investment will provide more than 1.5 million hours of services.
01 April 2022
These projects will be spearheaded by 199 organizations across Quebec offering respite, psychosocial support and training services. In total, 56% of the funds will be used to provide respite, or just over $34 million. Respite services meet a pressing need of caregivers and, when offered on a regular basis as a complement to other services, they can help the person being cared for to remain at home. The combination of these services contributes to improving the quality of life of caregivers and prevents them from burning out or jeopardizing their own health.
These services respond to issues identified in the National Policy for Caregivers. The Plan to implement the necessary changes in health care, presented this week by Health Minister Christian Dubé, also aims to provide more support to caregivers and improve the care continuum.
The $61 million in funding announced is part of a call for projects to support organizations that work with caregivers of seniors.
The organizations funded are, for example, caregiver-related associations, Alzheimer Societies, social economy enterprises, community organizations for seniors and volunteer action centres that share the same objective: to work in the field every day to improve caregivers’ quality of life.
"L'Appui pour les proches aidants is much more than a funding source for the development of services for caregivers. In all regions of Quebec, l'Appui listens to the needs of organizations offering services and is an agent of mobilization and cooperation. L’Appui plays a strategic role in guiding and supporting a service offer that is adapted to the needs of regional and local communities, and participates in improving the quality of the services provided by offering an ongoing training program to the organizations’ caregivers,” explains Christine Vilcocq, Regional Deployment Director of l’Appui pour les proches aidants.
Following the expansion of its mission in November 2021, L’Appui pour les proches aidants announced two other calls for projects targeting all caregivers, regardless of the age or condition of the person being cared for. A call for projects to support the digital transformation of organizations that work with caregivers had already been launched this winter. Another call for projects will be launched later this year for organizations offering services to caregivers of children or adults (non-seniors). Since the fall of 2021, following the Act to Recognize and Support Caregivers, l’Appui has expanded its mission to include all caregivers, and not only caregivers of seniors.
“We are pleased to support these organizations which, each in their own way, contribute to improving the quality of life of caregivers, and we are convinced that these projects will have a lasting impact on their overall well-being. The goal is to connect with caregivers early on, to understand their needs, and to help guide them to the resources that can support them throughout their journey, » says Guillaume Joseph, Executive Director of l’Appui pour les proches aidants.
● L’Appui pour les proches aidants is allocating $61 million from 2022 to 2025 to 199 organizations selected for their initiatives that focus on caregivers of seniors.
● Through the 266 projects funded, caregivers will be able to benefit from respite services, psychosocial support, or training. In total, 56% of the funding will be used to provide respite, or just over $34 million.
● This funding is part of the National Caregiver Policy and is in keeping with the Plan to Implement Necessary Changes in Health.
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