You call your mother every day to check that she is doing well.
You manage her appointments, medications, paperwork.
You do her shopping on Saturdays.
And if someone asked you: Are you a caregiver?
You might respond: No... I'm just helping my mother.
In many cases, that's exactly how it is experienced.
In Quebec, a significant portion of caregivers do not recognize themselves as such. The support they provide seems normal, natural, or simply insufficient to carry that title.
What does it mean to be a caregiver?
In Quebec, the definition is intentionally broad.
Being a caregiver means providing support to a person in one's circle who is experiencing a loss of autonomy, whether temporary or permanent.
This support can take various forms:
- accompanying to appointments,
- helping with care,
- offering emotional support,
- or coordinating daily life.
It can be occasional or continuous.
It can be done remotely.
And it does not necessarily rely on a family connection.
A reality that often goes unnoticed
In many cases, this role is established gradually.
You start by helping from time to time.Then a little more often.
Then you become the person others naturally turn to.
Without always putting words on it, you end up carrying an important part of the organization and decisions.
Why recognizing it can make a difference
Recognizing one's role as a caregiver does not change what one does on a daily basis.
But it can help to better understand what one is carrying.
It can also open access to certain resources, support, or measures designed to accompany this reality.
In Quebec, several organizations offer information, respite, and support. These services exist, but they are not always easy to find or use, especially when one does not yet recognize oneself as a caregiver.
Recognizing this reality can also help to better situate oneself, to name certain limits, and to consider ways to make daily life more sustainable.
Recognizing oneself, at one's own pace
You don't become a caregiver overnight.
However, certain situations may make you think: regularly helping someone in your circle with their daily life. Coordinating appointments or services.
Thinking about this person even when you're not with them. Adjusting your schedule or priorities to be present.
For some people, these elements speak for themselves. For others, less so.
The important thing is not to define oneself, but to better understand what one is experiencing.
How Lienzo fits into this reality
In this context, Lienzo integrates as a presence that supports the daily lives of caregivers and their circle.
In many situations, caregivers are not always surrounded. Even when a caregiving circle exists, a large part of the coordination often relies on a single person.
Lienzo comes to support this reality by making information more accessible and facilitating the sharing of certain responsibilities.
But above all, it allows you to no longer be alone in facing everything that needs to be managed.
The platform centralizes information and makes visible what needs to be done. The intelligent agent, for its part, helps to connect the elements together, highlight what requires attention, and support certain decisions.
In situations where the caregiver is alone, Lienzo becomes an additional presence in daily life. A form of structured support that allows reflection and organization to be carried out together, rather than alone.
Without replacing caregivers, Lienzo acts as a structuring presence that helps alleviate the management of daily life and break some of the isolation.
Conclusion
In many cases, you become a caregiver without really realizing it.
Recognizing this reality does not change anything about the intention behind the actions taken.
But it can help to better understand what one is carrying and to open up to forms of support that are adapted.
As Émilie, founder of Lienzo, says: It's not love that's missing. It's the structure to support that love.
