Quebec launches observatory for informal caregivers


The observatory’s mandate will be to meet with informal caregivers to identify the challenges they face and their needs.

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The Observatoire québécois sur la proche aidance, a group designed to propose concrete solutions to help informal caregivers, was officially launched Sunday by Minister for Seniors Marguerite Blais, who announced four nominees to assist it in its work.

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The observatory’s mandate will be to meet with informal caregivers to identify the challenges they face and their needs, explained Dr. Olivier Beauchet, its scientific director.

He said the observatory would put in place “actions that are really viable on the ground, that can really help them.”

According to Statistics Canada, informal caregivers represented 21 per cent of Quebec’s population in 2018.

Blais said the observatory is the only one of its kind and will make an impact worldwide.

“I’m convinced that across the world, they will come to seek this observatory’s ideas. It will grow informal caregiving beyond Quebec’s borders.”

She said the organization would have an annual budget of $500,000.

Four people will lead two committees that will work with the observatory. Sylvie Constantineau and Marc Rochefort were named chair and vice-chair, respectively, of the observatory’s management committee. Constantineau is a member of the Association québécoise des parents et amis de la personne atteinte de maladie mentale, while Rochefort is involved with the Regroupement provincial des committees des usagers.

Blais also named Mélanie Perroux, director of Proche aidance Québec, as chair of a committee of partners concerned with assisting informal caregivers. Irène Guérin will act as vice-chair.


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