How I Help
A practical sounding board for the early days of caregiving.
Rosemary Oak is short-term, early-stage care navigation for working professionals in British Columbia. Most clients come for one to three focused conversations. You leave with a clearer plan, not a longer to-do list.
What you walk away with
- A clearer understanding of the care situation.
- A simple, realistic sense of the next steps.
- Confidence in what to do first, and what can wait.
- Language to use with care providers, family, and anyone else in the loved one’s circle.
- Less overwhelm, more direction.
We help people
- Stepping into a caregiving, care navigator, or care advocate role for the first time.
- Suddenly responsible for a parent, grandparent, partner, or other family member.
- Stepping in for a friend, neighbour, or senior who has no closer family available.
- Feeling unsure where to start or what decisions need to happen first.
- Wanting clear, practical guidance, not general advice or overwhelm.
Sessions & pricing
Two ways to work together. Both run by video call across BC or in person in the Lower Mainland. Pick the tier that matches where you are. If you are not sure, send a note and I will help you decide.
Start with a Bearings Session: one 60-minute conversation to get oriented. If, after that, you want to build real structure, add a Framework Session: a second 60-minute working session that picks up where Bearings left off. Two atomic steps, taken on your schedule.
Community commitment: I offer the Bearings Session to 5 people free each month. If cost is a barrier for you, ask if there is space this month. Free sessions are by video call only and last an extra 5 minutes so I can ask for your feedback as part of the discussion.
Start here
Bearings Session
A single 60-minute conversation to get oriented, identify the right people to contact, and leave with a clear list of next steps.
- Duration
- 60 minutes
- Price
- $125 CAD
- Format
- Single call · by Video or House Call
- Next step
- Framework Session, if you want more structure
You leave with
- Three people to call this week to start putting care resources in place.
- A plain-language explanation of “who does what” in BC senior care (doctors, nurse practitioners, Vancouver Coastal Health, advocacy groups).
- A core set of questions to ask your loved one (while you can), and to ask their doctor or nurse practitioner.
- A plan for a Problem-Solver Directory: 8–10 real-world contacts drawn from your existing network and the gaps in it.
- A mutual check on whether we are a good fit to keep working together.
Best for
Anyone newly responsible for a senior loved one facing cognitive decline or dementia, who does not know where to start and wants to get ahead of the work.
Go deeper · After your Bearings Session
Framework Session
A second 60-minute working session that picks up where Bearings left off. Build the paperwork systems, decision-making framework, and practical tools you will lean on for months.
- Duration
- 60 minutes
- Price
- $175 CAD
- Format
- Single call · by Video or House Call
- Requires
- A prior Bearings Session
What we build together
- A simple template to map how your loved one’s life currently runs: finances, medication, appointments, communication channels.
- A working understanding of the legal, medical, and administrative pieces (POA, representation agreements, consent to disclose) and the order to tackle them.
- An introduction to practical technology that supports independence and remote oversight: sensors, medication reminders, dementia clocks, smart locks.
- Time to think out loud about the bigger decisions that are not on the shortlist yet.
Best for
Anyone ready to move past orientation and put real structure in place, so you spend less time scrambling and more time on the parts of caregiving only you can do.
After booking, you will receive a short pre-session intake form by email so the time on the call can be spent on what matters most to you.
What this is not
Rosemary Oak is not therapy, legal advice, financial advice, or long-term case management. I am not a counsellor, a lawyer, or an accountant. If you need any of those, I can help you figure out where to look, and we can do that work together before, during, or after a referral. The sessions are advisory and lived-experience led.
In person, at your location
House Call
Either session can be delivered in person in the Lower Mainland. Samantha travels to you, sits at your kitchen table or in your loved one’s home, and works through the same scope as a video session, with the benefit of seeing the paperwork, the home, and the day-to-day setup directly.
- Session fee
- Same as a video session. $125 CAD (Bearings) or $175 CAD (Framework).
- Travel time
- $125 CAD per hour, billed from Samantha’s starting point in Vancouver and back.
- Mileage
- Billed at the CRA approved rate, currently $0.73/km.
- Parking
- Billed at cost, with receipts.
You will see a written travel estimate before the visit is confirmed, so there are no surprises on the invoice. To request a House Call, mention it when you book or send a note from the contact page.
Monthly info session
A free monthly conversation, online.
Once a month I host a free virtual session over Teams covering the practical realities of starting to care for an older loved one in BC. Bring questions or just listen.