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14 Informal Care The majority of seniors wish to remain in their homes in order to maintain their independence for as long as possible. However, many require some form of assistance or care to stay at home safely and comfortably. Age demographics will result in more Canadians caring for their aged parents and relatives at home as informal caregivers. Informal caregivers are individuals who provide ongoing care and assistance, without pay, for family members and friends in need of support due to physical, cognitive, or mental conditions. Informal caregivers play a crucial role in maintaining the health, well-being, functional independence and quality of life of people living in the community who are otherwise at risk of losing their independence. In particular, informal care can assist with: • instrumental activities of daily living (e.g., transportation, meal preparation, shopping, housekeeping, home maintenance and medication management); • activities of daily living (e.g., bathing, toileting, eating, locomotion and personal hygiene); and • formal service coordination and management (e.g., navigating the health system, linking individuals to services and coordinating multiple services from diverse and multiple providers for those with complex needs). Many of those who provide informal care to older Canadians are spouses and adult children although roughly one-third of caregivers are friends, extended family and neighbours. Informal caregivers are mostly aged 45 and older and represent about 2.7 million Canadians. 32 They provide approximately 80 per cent of the care needs for people with chronic health issues and contribute an estimated economic value of $25 billion. 33 Importantly, informal caregivers provide assistance in addition to the demands they face in their own daily life related to work and family, which adds to the often demanding nature of the role. Given the demographics of Canadians, it is clear that a growing number of older people will place greater demands on the long-term care system, including informal caregiving. While new generations of older Canadians may be relatively active and healthy in comparison to past generations, they are nevertheless more prone to multiple and chronic ailments. Compassionate care benefits protect an employee's position and through employment insurance pays up to 6 weeks of leave to provide end-of-life care to a family member, extended family or close friend or neighbor. The federal government offers several tax credits options depending on individual circumstances. The provinces and territories offer a variety of tax credit programs where the eligibility and total amounts vary depending on factors such as age, relationship with care receiver, time spent caring and income. However, we believe that the current benefits available are not sufficient to appropriately support caregivers and the costs they incur in caring for a loved one. Therefore, policy action must be taken to provider greater support to caregivers and must recognize the challenges 32 Canadian Research Network for Care in the Community. Backgrounder: Informal Caregiving. 33 The Canadian Research Network for Care in the Community. The costs associated with providing informal care include personal/social costs, physical health costs, psychological costs and economic costs.