Family Caregiving as a Life Course Process

Ms. Pam Orzeck is the Coordinator of Leading Practices in Caregiving Support at the West-Central Montreal Health Network and an Adjunct Professor at the School of Social Work at McGill University. She has worked in community front line practice for the past twenty four years and in that capacity, has been involved in direct services, research, training, and knowledge transfer on diverse social issues. Ms. Orzeck consults on various committees and boards related to social policy and evidence-based best practices and has given trainings and presentations across Canada and the United States. She has published several articles and co-edited a book on professional interventions with caregivers.

Ms. Orzeck will give an example lecture tailored to a typical BSW class (SWRK 224 - Human Development across the Lifespan). She will be speaking about Family Caregiving as a Life Course Process.

Family caregiving is a topic that cuts across all life stages and social loca-tions. From a practice and policy standpoint, we do not often acknowledge caregivers’ contributions within families. Social workers are best placed to recognize and respond to family caregivers across systems and services. In order to better intervene with caregivers, we need to understand family caregiving as part of the life course. This will allow for an appreciation of the lived experiences of caregivers along their care trajectory. Moreover, it will move us beyond the current model of caregiving, where caregiving is seen as a role, rather than as a process. This teaching exercise will engage students in a discussion about family caregiving and introduce innovative practice tools to work with family caregivers.