I have cared for people all through my life. It is a vocation, I love to help people and have supported many through difficult times.

I grew up in Vancouver, and have been in the UK for the last 30 years. I have practiced Chinese medicine for 25 years, always from within Western medical practices. I have a thorough background in physiology and anatomy and a significant understanding of western pharmacology.

In my clinical practice I have decades of supporting a client group with high anxiety; I am very skilled at working with stressed people. I also have 2 autistic nephews and have 30 years experience of hanging out with people on the spectrum - we did a lot of community support for our Autistic Society.

During my college years I worked for the Social Services UK doing care-in-the community.
Their training is rigorous, and I spent 5 years supporting the elderly in the village where I lived; from daily check visits to full scale in-house care.

I personally cared for my father-in-law for 15 years until the age of 93. I had the privilege of watching him go from old to elderly to ancient. He had Parkinson's and dementia, macular degenration and deafness. This experience gave me a first hand understanding of supporting someone who was fierce in his unwillingness to lose his autonomy and independence; I was able to help him weather each change and shift, each time moving him towards accepting a space he could feel comfortable with.

I have always held a first aid certificate (with Social Services, and then as a condition of practice throughout my clinical years), which in the UK includes CPR. By requirement this was updated every 4 years.

I hold a regularly updated UK background check, as I have practice privileges at several hospitals in London and at the John Radcliffe in Oxford.

I also did regular respite care for a woman with advanced MS (wheelchair-bound) and have experience with lift machines, and can load and drive a modified wheelchair van.
The biggest challenge with this job was not only managing her 200+ lbs weight, but also managing the difficulties in her mental health that led to rages and intense negative behaviours. On her good days we had lots of fun, and on the bad days I learned to greatly amplify my patience quota.

Ohh, and I am a parent - a level of experience that should never be undervalued or overlooked! I can cook and clean like nobody's business. My sons are 29 and 28.

I have recently returned to Canada, to the White Rock area, and would like to find a live-in situation where I might help take the load off the family, and provide the assurance of knowing that someone is always there to ensure the Elderly(ies) are safe, taking their meds and getting help with the daily tasks that are now too challenging.

I would like to bring my extensive experience to supporting a family that are concerned for their elderly; ideally a situation where someone is not yet ready to leave their home but they are beginning to not quite cope. I would like to find a live-in situation.

• Education: Graduate degree
Skills
• Meal preparations
• Medication
• Personal care (bath, toilet)
• Use of wheelchair
Specific Skills
• Physical disability
• Mental health illness
• Memory loss / dementia
• Vision loss
• Hearing loss