Communicating
with Caregivers

In person and online workshops developed and presented by Jennifer Johannesen

A unique opportunity for healthcare professionals and health care providers who work with people with disabilities or chronic conditions, their families, and their caregivers to reflect critically on their work, and uncover ways to deliver more empathetic and effective care

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As the parent of a child with multiple severe disabilities, I found that most of my encounters with healthcare providers were respectful, informative, appropriate, considerate. Most people looked me in the eye, sat down if I was already sitting. I never felt lied to or intentionally misled.

But I also left most of those encounters feeling drained, unseen, and more despairing than when I arrived. So… what’s happening, that my experience would be so different from the likely intention?

Well, what’s happening is way beyond words or body language or bedside manner.

There’s a grand performance happening, from all parties, and it can leave everyone feeling dissatisfied. Even when everyone has memorized their lines and everything has gone according to script.

This worskhop is for you if you work with people with disabilities or chronic conditions as a:

  • Health care provider or medical professional
  • Healthcare professional or therapist, including occupational therapists, speech-language pathologists, physiotherapists, and play- and arts-based therapists
  • Community services caseworker
  • Early childhood intervention specialist
  • Classroom educator or education assistant

Basically, anyone who provides health-related or developmental support to children with disabilities*

*If your role is defined differently or you work with a different population, you are still very welcome to join! Varied perspectives are always welcome, and you will likely learn a lot, seeing familiar issues through a different lens. Or, get in touch and we can see if this is still a good fit for you. 

No Ordinary Workshop

What to expect:

Authenticity
Honest reflections from a parent of a child with severe disabilities, and a chance to ask questions

Critical thinking
Expand on common notions of ‘communication’ to consider roles, institutional agendas, goal-setting and evaluation, societal norms – all of which can convey expectations without a word being spoken

Connection
Safe space to share and discuss with colleagues your own insights about your work with families – especially the more under-explored and under-expressed feelings of insecurity, misgivings, and uncertainty

Reflexivity
Opportunity to examine your role, your purpose, your value to children and families – and consider what you might shift moving forward

Unhurried processing
Time to think and feel, which is why I’ve divided the workshop into 2 sessions a week apart

PLUS:

Participants will receive a signed copy of my book, No Ordinary Boy, mailed out after the 2nd workshop.

Participants will receive a Certificate of Completion after the 2nd workshop.

“…but I already know how to communicate with families and caregivers!”

No doubt you’ve had lots of productive interactions with clients and families! But sometimes there can be a disconnect that isn’t obvious in the moment. Perhaps later, you may sense that certain conversations could have gone better. Or, you have an uneasy feeling that you’ve missed the mark. Or on occasion, you know deep down that what you’re providing isn’t helping.

I’ve hosted workshops and sessions like this many times over the years. I’ve come to appreciate that busy healthcare professionals and health care providers have little to no time or opportunity to debrief or reflect on how workplace expectations and professional practice (e.g. goal-setting, progress tracking, evaluation etc.) can collide with the vulnerability and desperation of a family, and the reality of working with a child who isn’t progressing as desired. This collision can lead to misassumptions, silent collusion in unnamed objectives, and disappointments all round. 

I think, at a minimum, it’s important to acknowledge these tensions and connect with others who share the same sense of things. As a caregiver, I know I’m not alone when I say that I also felt these tensions and didn’t know what to do about it. To me, our path felt predestined and hopeless, and that we were all just expected to carry on as though that wasn’t the case.

I often wonder: did it have to be this way?

“This workshop exceeded my expectations. Thank you for being so generous with sharing your story. It is rare to be able to have such an honest reflection on a parent’s experience. It covered much more than communication with caregivers. We got a glimpse into Jennifer’s world. She generously shared her lived experience and the impact parenting a child with disabilities had on her and her family. I reflected on the impact my actions and words have on families. It really opened my eyes to the expectations that therapists place on parents. Sometimes we are not aware of the unspoken pressures. This workshop was powerful and moving.”

Sara Slen, OT

Get ready to be challenged . . .

The frame of this workshop is communication but it’s so much more than that . . . the stories and discussions will push you to ask yourself serious questions about the impact and value of your work, the benefits and consequences for families, and will challenge underlying assumptions about what children and families might want and need.

The experiences I share in this workshop are not always easy to hear, because sometimes the results of well-meaning interventions are not what was intended! I offer you a look behind the scenes of one family’s experience, to hopefully shed some light on the impact your words and actions may have on families like mine. 

. . . and we’ll figure out together some new ways to move forward

Key takeaways from a parent’s perspective will be offered, however the real magic of this session will be in the emergent understandings, connections, and insights shared by the group as you consider you own interactions with children and their families.

If you take this workshop, be willing to feel, become vulnerable and experience on a heart-level. In an unexpected and powerful way, I accessed the heart of being an OT. The workshop ruffled me and brought me to tears. This workshop taught me the importance of setting aside my ‘preconceived agenda’ and communicating with families and caregivers as fellow humans. It’s ok to admit that I do not have answers or that my role is not to ‘fix’. I need to remember the privilege of being invited into each person’s story…to celebrate the joys and to enter dark places, and to honour the journey.

Carol Peachey-Hill, OT

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“My name is Janice. I’m an occupational therapist who’s been providing home visiting service to families in Durham Region, east of Toronto, for over 27 years.

Jennifer’s workshop has left a lasting impression on me. I’m already one to self-reflect. However, her story, insight and reflections has made me take a deeper dive into my own self-reflection. It has helped me to consider what I’m saying, what I’m doing, and how my words and questions could be impacting a family. I’ve continued to delve into, ponder, and reflect long after, with each client I work with.

I’m grateful for Jennifer’s honesty and her engaging workshop. I’m grateful to have learned more about myself and my practice. This is a workshop you definitely don’t want to miss. It has a far reaching impact.”

Janice Bosak, OT

“I’m an occupational therapist in community pediatrics. I recently had the privilege of participating in Jennifer’s workshop, “Communicating with Caregivers.” This workshop instantly transformed my perspective as a therapist. The discussions challenged us to reflect deeply on our practices, and brought to light the unintentional effects that we, as therapists, might have on the families we work with. Jennifer shared with honesty and with vulnerability what it’s like to be on the receiving end of pediatric therapy services.

Some of my takeaways included hearing her speak about how therapy became a lifestyle, how her family’s best moments came when they disconnected from therapy. It made me reflect on how an exclusively strength-based approach can tip into toxic positivity and unintentionally undermine the therapist-family relationship. I think this workshop is a must for any pediatric therapist. It holds a mirror up to our practices and invites us to do better for the families we serve.”

Misty McAlear, OT

WORKSHOP DETAILS

Learning objectives and goals

This workshop gives learners an opportunity to practice critical reflexivity and identify opportunities to better support families and caregivers by:

  • Expanding your understanding of ‘communication’ so you can nurture and improve your rapport with caregivers
  • Identifying and challenging biases and assumptions about what families might want and need 
  • Reflecting on how to meet the client and family ‘where they’re at’
During this workshop, we will have opportunities to:
 
  • Examine various assumptions, meanings, and perspectives related to communicating with caregivers in a pediatric healthcare service delivery context (including at home, in hospitals or clinics, in schools, in rehabilitation settings and any other locations where children receive services);
  • Identify systemic factors that impact communication with caregivers;
  • Critically examine tensions that may impede family-centred care;
  • Consider practice-based take-aways to promote effective communication with caregivers.

Workshop format

This workshop is delivered as a 2-session ONLINE interactive workshop.

The ideal number of participants is 10 to 25. If less than 8 people are registered one week before the first session, I will refund your payment or reserve space for you in an upcoming workshop.

SESSION ONE  – 3 HOURS – 10am to 1pm Eastern

  • This session includes a short lecture followed by presentation of several (real life) vignettes for participants to consider and discuss in both large and small groups.
  • Participants will receive a PDF version of No Ordinary Boy at the end of the session. 

SESSION TWO – 3 HOURS – 10am to 1pm Eastern

  • This session will be held 7 days later. It includes a debrief and discussion, open Q&A with me, and an opportunity to share reflections if you’ve had a chance to read the book.

FOLLOW-UP

  • Participants can share their key takeaways in the 2nd session and will have a chance to submit further thoughts in a follow-up survey. These consolidated notes will be circulated to the group.
  • Participants will receive a signed, softcover copy of No Ordinary Boy by mail. This is included in the fee! If you already own it or are satisfied with the PDF version only, you can designate your copy for donation. (I am often in a position to pass along a copy to someone who may not be able to afford it.)
Register here

“This is a powerful workshop that will stop you in your tracks to listen and feel what is being said. It might leave you questioning your past visits with families and caregivers and how to name and support tension and dissonance that exist below the surface.”

Moray McLean, OT

Frequently asked questions

It’s never too early to start thinking about your impact on children, families, and caregivers! I often speak to graduate students, new grads, and early-career professionals, and in my experience the material in this workshop is just as relevant regardless of stage of training or career. As well, you’ll have the benefit of hearing from colleagues with more experience. The level of candidness and honesty of the sharing is something quite rare to find in the workplace. This workshop provides an extraordinary opportunity for colleagues of all levels of experience to connect and learn from each other.

YES! In a recent workshop I delivered the average career length was over 20 years, with some attendees working 35+ years in their field. The overwhelming feedback was that the sessions were far more memorable and relevant than most or even all of their prior professional development opportunities. 

I see tremendous benefit in fostering open dialogue among patients, clients, families, healthcare providers, educators, and even policy makers, managers and administrators. I will be offering Open Workshops in the near future. For now my workshops are for healthcare professionals only, to allow for more candid and honest conversations. 

I encourage attendance to both sessions but if that’s not possible, not a problem! You’ll still receive the key takeaways generated by the collective group as well as a copy of my book. 

(Please note that this workshop is a 2-session offering, and no refunds will be provided for a missed 2nd session.)

For now, no. Recording may dampen or stifle open sharing. I also know for myself that if something’s being recorded, I may pay less attention in the moment :) This workshop is most effective for everyone when conditions are optimized to be present and engaged. 

This workshop is relevant regardless of location! Any province, any country. If you work with children, families, and caregivers, you will feel right at home. 

Please note this workshop is conducted in English only, and each session takes place 10am to 1pm Eastern time.  The sessions are not recorded so you will only benefit if you are able to join at the assigned time. 

If the timing is prohibitive for you and you are keen to attend, please let me know! I would like my workshops to be as accessible as possible and I’m open to scheduling future workshops at a variety of times.

Actually, this workshop was initially developed as an in-person classroom experience! When I converted to an online format, I was a little concerned at first. I hoped it wouldn’t feel disjointed, or lose some of its connection and emotion. But, gathering online didn’t diminish anything, and in fact created a different kind of cohesion. 

My current plan is to offer the in-person version of this workshop only for conferences and workplaces. I may develop an in-person public workshop at some point –  if you’re interested, please sign up for my mailing list so you’ll be among the first to know!

Yes! Please contact me to discuss possibilities and details.

About Jennifer

I have been speaking and writing about caregiver and family experiences related to developmental and physical disability, medical complexity and pediatric rehabilitation for many years. My son, Owen, was born with multiple severe disabilities including cerebral palsy, developmental delay, and hearing impairment. Owen died in 2010, at the age of 12. 

Since Owen’s death, I wrote a book (No Ordinary Boy) and I address mostly professional and academic audiences about their impact on the lives of the people they support.

I have a Master of Science in Bioethics and Health Policy, and host the podcast Matters of Engagement. You can read some of my keynotes and blog posts here. For a more detailed bio, go here.

I live and work in Waterloo Ontario. I’m always open to a virtual or in-person coffee! Contact me here.