Oct 16, 2019
If you have a special needs child, a family member with extra needs, or an elderly parent needing care, you might be overwhelmed with information, processes, and where to go first. Navigating Systems looks at the big hurdles that military families face, how to plan and self-advocate, and how to tackle this daunting challenge.
Special Guest
Colleen Cahoon is currently the Manager, Regional Services Vancouver Island for the Alzheimer Society of British Columbia. Before that, she spent over 10 years helping families with complex and special needs navigate systems as the Family Navigator Coordinator at the Esquimalt Military Family Resource Centre.
Highlights
- 3:08 The biggest hurdles for families to overcome is what direction to go, what questions to ask, who to go for what, when.
- Systems are complicated and hard to understand
- Not having a family doctor is a huge barrier to accessing services
- 11:15 Really sit down and develop a plan
- Ask questions. Ask everyone.
- 12:51 Self-advocacy
- With each transition there is a new system to navigate
- 16:39 Gather as much information about the services that exist and the systems.
- Saying to a service provider, I want to work with you to get this achieved.
- 20:00 It can be a great learning opportunity
- If you’ve done it once, you can do it again.
Quotes
“If you've done it once, you've got this, you can do it again. Is it hard? Absolutely. And it's a lot to take in. And I think it's just the planning piece is really important. There's also a lot of other people going through this. If you get connected with the right people, it's really important, and it can really help you from feeling isolated.” – Colleen Cahoon
“Ask questions. Ask everyone. I remember for myself, for example, and I had a family member and I was navigating systems. One of our best advocates was an occupational therapist and speech pathologist who had absolutely nothing to do with me accessing services, but they knew how those services worked. Other parents know how those services work, ask questions, reach out to people, you'll often find people who are in a similar situation who can give you tips and then you figure out the best plan of action for your family.” – Colleen Cahoon
Connect
Links
Thank you
- This podcast is made possible by funding from True Patriot Love Foundation.
- Thank you to Organized Sound Productions for their help bringing this podcast to life.