A Lifetime of Caregiving: Brenda Blais on Love, Loss, and the Fight for Better Policy (Episode 156)

In today’s episode, Stephanie speaks to Brenda Blais about a lifetime shaped by caregiving. Brenda shares how caring for family across generations, and especially raising her daughter Nikki through profound medical complexity, changed how she sees care, work, and public policy. They discuss the hidden labor of caregiving, the inadequacy of current Canadian caregiver supports, and the challenge of re-entering the workforce after years away. Brenda also reflects on grief, resilience, and the support systems that helped her keep going. About Brenda: Brenda Blais is a caregiver engagement and navigation professional whose work is rooted in connection, partnership, and lived experience. For nearly thirty years, Brenda supported her daughter Nikki through a paradoxically complex and beautiful life shaped by joy, resilience, and constant interactions with health, education, community, and social‑service systems. Raising Nikki - and navigating these systems with her - shaped Brenda’s understanding of what families need most: to be embraced as essential partners in care. Brenda’s caregiving journey began long before motherhood. As a child, she supported an older sibling with disabilities and helped navigate her father’s stroke, later guiding her aging and ailing parents through complex health and government systems. These experiences gave her a well‑rounded understanding of caregiving across the lifespan and shaped her lifelong dedication to collaborative system partnership. Professionally, Brenda has woven this dedication into roles across caregiver coaching, navigation, teaching, and speaking engagements. Today, Brenda serves as Co‑Chair of the Canadian Caregivers Advocacy Network through the Canadian Centre for Caregiving Excellence, helping elevate caregiver voices and strengthen national conversations and strategies to support caregivers. At the heart of all her work is Nikki - her legacy, her joy, and the caregiving journey that taught Brenda that caregivers are integral partners whose expertise transforms lives and systems. Brenda honours her daughter by continuing to advocate for families across Canada and working to ensure caregivers feel seen, heard, respected, and valued in every space they enter. Find Brenda: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brenda-blais-68267373/ Thank you to today’s sponsor, The Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration. To learn more about AFTD please visit https://www.theaftd.org/ *The content shared on this podcast is for educational and informational purposes only. It is not intended to be a substitute for professional advice, diagnosis, or treatment, and it does not constitute therapy or counselling. If you are in need of mental health support or professional guidance, please reach out to a qualified healthcare provider or mental health professional. The views expressed by guests are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of the host.* Visit us on our website to see all that we offer for caregiver support: www.compassionincaregiving.com For more visit our Instagram! http://www.instagram.com/compassionincaregiving