Caregivers often find themselves navigating complex healthcare systems on behalf of others, while their own needs are overlooked or set aside. This interactive panel webinar focuses on the importance of self-advocacy in healthcare—empowering caregivers to speak up for their own care while continuing to support someone else.

Featuring three diverse perspectives—a caregiver with lived experience, a healthcare professional, and a health advocate—this session will explore the real-world challenges caregivers face when accessing care for themselves. Panelists will discuss common barriers, such as time constraints, guilt, and system complexity, and share practical strategies for communicating needs, setting boundaries, and navigating appointments, referrals, and care plans.

Participants will gain insight into how self-advocacy is not only beneficial but essential to sustaining long-term caregiving. The webinar will also highlight how healthcare providers and advocacy supports can partner with caregivers to improve outcomes for everyone involved.

This session is designed to be practical, reflective, and supportive, offering caregivers tools, language, and confidence to prioritize their own health—without compromising the care they provide to others.

Host: Johnna Lowther, Director of Programs and Services, Caregivers Alberta