To download our 4-page document "An Introduction to the ACGA", please click here (Adobe Acrobat Reader required).

Our mission is to provide information, education, networking, and advocacy for family caregivers and to seek parity for family caregivers with the healthcare professionals caring for their loved ones. The following programs and services strive to fulfill this mission, and are constantly under development to serve family caregivers better.

Caregiver Information, Support & Linkage

Staff and volunteers of the ACGA offer support, information, and linkage services to caregivers who approach us with their concerns. We then provide follow-up support and further linkages as needed upon request. Caregivers, or people who care about them, can contact the ACGA by phone, e-mail, mail, or in person, to get the information and support they need, and to be connected to service and support organizations in their own communities that can help caregivers maintain themselves.

Caregiver Networks

The Caregiver Network serves as the core of all of the ACGA’s activities. It is a group based on the self-help philosophy and as such, provides caregivers with a safe place where they can:

• meet other caregivers, forge friendships through common caregiving experiences, and share with each other their feelings and first-hand expertise;
• learn new skills and information from knowledgeable people who care about caregivers;
• be connected to ACGA programs and activities that they require; and
• guide the development of the ACGA’s programs and activities to meet their emerging needs.

Meetings are held every month on the 4th Wednesday, from 10AM until Noon at the ACGA Offices. Other meeting times and places will be arranged as caregivers require them. Please go to our Events page for current listings.

Caregiver Respite: Freedom & Friendship Pilot Program

Freedom & Friendship provides community-based respite for family caregivers of an adult family member or friend living with a chronic disease. 

Freedom & Friendship is designed to provide respite as an outcome for the caregiver.   The program supports the caregiver’s need for meaningful time and activity away from caregiving responsibilities.  To achieve respite as an outcome, Freedom & Friendship strives to give caregivers a clear voice when expressing their individualized respite needs while promoting a sense of choice with regards to respite options or possibilities.

Freedom & Friendship provides trained volunteers who offer one-to-one social/diversional activities and companionship based on the care recipient’s unique needs, interests and abilities. Caregivers and if possible care recipients meet with the Freedom & Friendship Program Coordinator to discuss their current needs and challenges in depth. 

Freedom & Friendship volunteers, with a genuine interest in the health and wellbeing of families living with chronic disease, undergo an intensive screening, interview and security/reference check prior to completing the Freedom & Friendship training program.  Volunteer assignments are based on factors including gender, role-related interests, communication style and availability. The Program Coordinator monitors these relationships on a regular basis, provides ongoing support and acts as a resource to caregivers and volunteers as needed.

Freedom & Friendship is a partnership between the Alberta Caregivers Association, the J.W. McConnell Family Foundation and the Edmonton community.

Caregiver Recreation

The Caregiver Recreation program includes activities that are inherently social in nature, with the purpose of providing leisure, recreational, and cultural opportunities to caregivers (and their care receivers, if appropriate).

Caregiver Network members who participate in this program will be able to attend events such as concerts, theatre performances, festivals, etc. with other caregivers and, when appropriate, their care receivers.

Caregiver Education: COMPASS for the Caregiver (under development)

COMPASS for the Caregiver is a unique module-based caregiver education program that provides caregivers with the information and tools they need to help them maintain resiliency as they proceed along the caregiver’s journey. This prototype was developed with input from caregivers and is based on the “Caregivers’ Bill of Rights” by Wendy Lustbader.

Caregiver Conferences

Caregiver conferences are held annually, with the purpose of bringing caregivers together for A Day of Rest and Renewal The sessions provide an inspirational reprieve to the day-to-day struggles of caregivers and an introduction to ideas they can use to preserve themselves. Most importantly, the conferences help caregivers meet others who understand the journey and can share ways to cope with it. 

Caregiver Resources

Caregiver Resources provides convenient access to a variety of information and self-help resources through a partnership with the Edmonton Public Library. These resources will help caregivers orient themselves in terms of their own well-being, as well as aid them in navigating the health and social services system in the easiest way possible.

Contact any Edmonton Public Library branch or any local community library to request a book or