COMPASS for the Caregiver
Intended Audience
Wellspring members who are in an active caregiving role.
Program Description
COMPASS for Caregivers is a multi-session supportive workshop designed by Caregivers Alberta, to help caregivers balance their own wellness with the needs and demands of caring for a loved one. Through collaborative efforts with, and training from Caregivers Alberta, Wellspring Alberta is pleased to provide members with this valuable program, offering guidance, support and tools to help navigate the caregiving journey.
The COMPASS for the Caregiver Program consists of the following topics:
Being a Caregiver: Recognize caregiver strengths, needs and challenges, and take pride in the role. Participants will examine emotions and learn ways to bring perspective to difficult thoughts.
Managing Stress: Learn how stress can lead to burnout, and what can be done to prevent or recover from it. Explore how to shift mindsets and create stable caregiving environments.
Balancing Relationships: Improve communication skills to identify needs, ask for help and share care. The hardest lesson a caregiver faces is prioritizing self-care to regain and maintain identity as a whole person.
Navigating the Journey: Build confidence around accessing services, reflect on the caregiving journey, and plan ahead to avoid the stress of uncertainty.
Benefits and Impact
Recent literature has identified that caregivers of people living with cancer may be faced with numerous challenges and burdens, such as financial difficulty, emotional distress, and social isolation (Molassiotis & Wang, 2022). Wellspring Alberta offers the COMPASS for the Caregiver program to support the unique needs of caregivers and facilitate peer interactions through structured and curriculum-based informational sessions. Research studying the effects of psychosocial interventions that provide social connectedness and informational support, such as this program, have found improvements in anxiety, self-efficacy, depressive symptoms and quality of life for caregivers when offered both in person (Molassiotis & Wang, 2022; Kedia et al., 2020; Yuen & Wilson, 2022). and virtually (Tang et al., 2014).
What to Expect at a Session
During the program, members meet each week and learn about being a caregiver, managing stress, balancing relationships, and navigating the caregiving journey. It is an opportunity for members to be in the company of others who understand the rewards and challenges of caring for a loved one with cancer.
