Prince George, B.C. – It’s a question all families face – how much independence to give to our loved ones when they grow old.

And it’s one of the many questions that will be discussed at the BC Psychogeriatric Conference at UNBC starting today. The theme is ‘A Balancing Act: Supporting Autonomy and Reducing Risk.’

“We know from research that most people want to stay in their own homes, they want to be able to be doing things that they’re used to be doing. Maybe with more supports,” says conference co-chair Dawn Hemingway.

“At the same time of course there’s challenges that develop for all of us, whether it’s some physical issues or whether there’s some challenges with regard to perhaps our memory and cognition if there’s some kind of dementia developing. And then the question comes, how much autonomy can we support at the same time to reduce risks people may have.”

She says there’s many examples of what society could do to help people stay at home.

“It could be things like ramps but it could be needing support in terms of meal preparation or getting groceries or transportation to appointments. Maybe you just need someone who can climb up a ladder and change your light bulb when it goes out.”

She says the conference will feature a wide range of workshops exploring related issues over the course of the two day event.

“It’s a pretty important topic and we’re pretty excited about having a real range of participants that can talk about how we can accomplish this.”