Pat M. Irwin
Founder & President of ElderCareCanada
Pat Irwin enjoyed a long and successful career in financial services – banking, trust and systems consulting – in Canada and the US. When her dad became ill in 1997 and her mom could no longer care for him, the family took the only advice they were given – ‘put him a home’. The home was fine, but her dad felt excluded from the process, gave up hope and died within three months. First she got mad, then she got busy, and founded ElderCareCanada, a consulting service assisting adult children in dealing with aging parents.
Specialty
Her specialty is effectively managing the family dynamic between seniors, their adult children and adult siblings.
She builds on her consulting and service-quality training in developing strategies with families so they can plan together to get things done, including in-home care, housing options, relocation assistance, absentee care management, and strategies for long-term care, estates, Wills and funerals.
Another specialty area is elder care mediation, and expert opinions for families undergoing mediation and litigation regarding elder care costs and effort.
When hospital stays and waitlists confound families, as a certified patient navigator, Pat is adept at cutting through red tape to manage the process.
Education
Education includes a BA from the University of Toronto, Associate of the Institute of Canadian Bankers (AICB), Certified Senior Advisor (CSA/CPCA) designation, and certificate in mediation from the Faculty of Law, University of Windsor.
She holds a certificate in Patient Navigation from the Canada Health Education network (CHEN).
She also offers onsite lectures and Webinars on eldercare topics and supports corporate Employee Assistance Programs as well as her private practice.
In the Media
Media includes print and on-line publications in trade publication such as Caregiver Solutions Magazine, Help’s Here, Dialogue and Comfort Life; she has been quoted in The Globe and Mail’s Report on Business Magazine, The Globe and Mail Report on Business, Macleans and Canadian Business magazine. Radio includes Classical 96.3fm, and CBC Radio including Fresh Air, The Current and Definitely not the Opera. Television includes Discovery Health television, CTV’s Canadian Business Television and Comfort Life TV, as well as numerous ‘expert opinion’ spots for news stations. She recently appeared on a popular podcast with Teri Hart, ‘The Heart of the Matter’.
Pat was a Professor of Distance Learning at Centennial College for 15 years, developing and teaching several courses in the Retirement Communities Management (RCMC) designation offered by the Ontario Retirement Communities Association (ORCA). Personal interests include a 30+ career as a singer in various Toronto choral ensembles; as a singer, Board member and volunteer fundraiser with the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, as well as tenures on boards of the Mendelssohn Choir, Orchestra Toronto, the Saint Elizabeth Foundation, and the volunteer committee of St. Michael’s Hospital.
In the Community
Identifying, sourcing and arranging health insurance and travel arrangements for a senior couple, both disabled, wanting the ‘trip of a lifetime’.
Sourcing, interviewing and reference checking an appropriate assistant for a senior having trouble managing their mails and bill-paying.
Reconnecting with an adult daughter, whom we helped bring her mother from the USA to Canada fifteen years ago, to know her options and plan for palliative care that her mother requires now.
Working with two sisters providing distance care to their dad in the UK, hoping to convince him to come to Canada to an appropriate level of affordable care in a community that accepts LGBTQ couples.
Working with a retirement home to specifically identify and source additional care to allow a resident with mid-stage dementia to stay in his suite while awaiting a bed in long-term care.
Examples
We keep it simple and flexible, with an hourly rate and no minimums or retainers. This way you can get guidance for a single question – or over several months. It's all geared to what's best for your family's unique situation.