(Jun 9, 2007)

Canada's population is aging. And as it ages more seniors will need help to either live at home or find some means of assisted living.

It's often a difficult road to find appropriate care. Government programs provide limited hours of help, and long-term care homes have waiting lists that can extend to years.

Much of the responsibility falls to informal caregivers who must navigate a system that seems to throw up roadblocks at every corner. Statistics Canada data indicate about 1.7 million middle-aged Canadians (ages 45 to 64) provide some type of informal care to about 2.3 million seniors.

Then there are those caregivers who are squeezed more tightly -- the middle-aged group who often hold down paying jobs while caring for a child at home. They number about 720,000.

This is the story of one of those caregivers, illustrative of both the stumbling blocks in the long-term care system, as well as the personal pressures of dealing with aging parents, while raising children and working.

Next week, The Spectator will provide a five-day guide to finding help to deal with these issues.