Are you part of the caregiver corps of mostly women, who quietly flow in and out of the doors of every retirement home?* I’ve joined you carrying large bags of laundry, and assorted groceries. Sometimes, we bring hot coffee and snacks. Sometimes, it’s a commode or compression socks.
If you watch the doors of a retirement residence, there’s a constant stream of us coming and going from mid-morning to late afternoon. We bypass the chair yoga class, the nurse dispensing meds from her cart, and join the PSW scrolling on their phone in elevator, as we balance our bags of groceries and a double-double.**
We Inadvertently Join
For months after a sudden health decline for my family member, I didn’t notice the other women of the corps. I was too busy trying to figure out a schedule for visits, and laundry, and groceries. There were many additional medical appointments and health worries too.
Then, one sunny afternoon, I was walking in a new neighbourhood and I paused to wait for the lights to change. That’s when I noticed two women my age carrying bags of laundry. At first, I thought they were headed to a nearby laundromat. But, then they crossed the street and passed through the sliding doors of a retirement home, and I knew. They were doing laundry for an elderly person, probably a family member. They were caregiver corps.
Things We Do
Even though many retirement homes offer laundry facilities for their residents, there comes a time when doing their own laundry is just too much for the resident. To avoid having their laundry gathered into bags and washed with everyone else’s in the home’s commercial machines (and potentially ruined), a relative steps in to help.
Likewise, taking short independent trips to the grocery store, doctor’s appointments, and the drug store can suddenly come to a halt as an older person’s health declines. What was once an independent event on Wheeltrans*** or in a taxi, now becomes either a shared activity with someone for support, or the sole work of a family caregiver.
Why We Step In
Paying for someone to do these things for an elderly person, rarely makes sense because they are easy enough for us to do ourselves if we have time. Our resources are best saved to pay for the things that we don’t have the skills to do for our family member. I can grocery shop, drive to appointments, do laundry, and arrange hair curlers, but I don’t have the skills to safely bathe someone, do wound care, or provide physiotherapy.
Relying On Women’s Unpaid Labour
Just like childcare, society relies on the unpaid labour of women to care; to know that it makes a big difference to someone’s quality of life if they have more than their basic needs met. Caregiving is important. Oftentimes, it falls to mostly midlife women who are either still working full-time, or have recently retired.
Expand The Caregiver Corps Membership
I wonder if in 2026 caregiving can be shared more equally with the men, and the younger members of the family? Childcare, meals, and household work are becoming a shared expectation within families; why not eldercare? There is work to be done here to expand the caregiver corps.
Are you, or have you been, part of the caregiver corps, and how did it feel? Comment below.
*I recognize that living in a retirement residence is just one space where caregiving for elderly people takes place. According to statistics Canada in 2011, 43.5% of people in their nineties live in collective spaces such as nursing homes or residences for senior citizens.
**A standard coffee order in Canada at Tim Hortons: double cream, double sugar.
***Wheeltrans is a public transportation service provided in Toronto by the Toronto Transit Commission to folks with disabilities and mobility challenges.
