News

Caregiver news and articles

May 2025: John van Gurp shares 10 tips for dementia caregivers in a profile for The Telegram.

May 2025: Government of Nova Scotia released the Assessibility Plan for 2025-2028. The plan includes 8 priorities for the next three years and an overview of the progress made so far.

April 2025: Legal Information Society of Nova Scotia lauched a new free app, allowing caregivers and their families create a legally valid enduring power of attorney. Previously, LISNS have developed a Personal Directive App, Wills App, Separation Agreement, Small Case Court App and Safe at Work - all free to use.

February 2025: Canadian Centre for Caregiving Excellence, in collaboration with Caregivers Nova Scotia and other caregiving organizations, as well as caregivers experts across care sectors, have developed the National Caregiving Strategy. Support it by sharing it with your local and federal politicians, let's make it a reality!

February 2025: Nova Scotia Health and Shannex opened West Bedford Transitional Health - the first of its kind short-term facility for HRM patients, who no longer need acute care but require more time to return home. The centre focuses on mobility rehabilitation and will welcome 68 patients in the coming months, with more rooms opening in 2026. Read out FAQ about Transitional Health.

January 2025: Canadian Centre for Caregiving Excellence launched Who Cares: A podcast about caregiving in Canada. 8-part series explores different facets of caregiving: how did COVID 19 change caregiving? What can we do to support young caregivers better? How stigma around mental health makes caregivers more isolated? What challenges do Black, Indigenous, LGBTQIA+ caregivers face? Listen to Who Cares on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.

June 2021: Eligibility Expanded for Caregiver Benefit Program.

You can read earlier news and articles here.

Latest newsletter issues

May 2025: Happy Caregiver Appreciation month! The spring edition of Beacon is here.
Explore:

A story about a young caregiver first advocating for her family and now advocating for entire communities
Burnout vs. Compassion Fatigue
How to process grief without letting it take over the moment
and more!

December 2024: Happy holidays! The winter edition of Beacon is here!
Explore:

Caregiving for people with intellectual disabilities
Sensory grounding
Delirium vs. Dementia
and more!

May 2024: The Caregivers Nova Scotia Beacon Newsletter Summer/Fall 2024 is here!

December 2023: The Caregivers Nova Scotia Beacon Newsletter Winter 2023/24 is here!

Want to explore older issues? We have newsletter archives by issue and by topic.

Our media appearances

May 2025: Hetty Van Gurp spoke with Portia Clark of the Information Morning about her journey as a caregiver, work with Northwood and our new event - Artful Connections! Listen to the full interview here.

March 2025: You might've heard us on the Information Morning! Our coordinator JoAnne Connors spoke with Carsten Knox about the recent deaths of Gene Hackman and Betsy Arakawa, the challenges of dementia caregiving and the importance of staying connected as a caregiver. Listen to the full interview here.

October 2024: We spoke with Yvette D'Etremont from Halifax Examiner about our new Young Caregiver Pilot. Read the full article here.

Want to read more? We have an archive of our media appearances.

New research and publications

November 2022: The Canadian Centre for Caregiving Excellence publishes their first policy whitepaper. The report is called Giving Care: An approach to a better caregiving landscape in Canada. Read about it here.

February 2022: New research by economist Dr. Janet Fast and Jacquie Eales was released. The statistics indicate that the annual economic value of caregivers in Canada is $97.1 billion! Learn more on the Research on Aging Policies and Practice website.

Explore more: go to our Publications page.