Seniors' care in B.C. needs improvement.
Services have eroded over the years and the current programs are inadequate in protecting older Canadians, said June Ross, a Nanaimo senior’s advocate.
A place to start creating change is implementing the more than 170 recommendations B.C. Ombudsperson Kim Carter laid out in her recent report: The Best Care: Getting it Right for Seniors in British Columbia.
“If we only implement two-thirds, we’ll be away at the races,” said Ross. “She’s just done an amazing level of work.”
Key recommendations include: assisting seniors to live at home longer by expanding home and community support networks they rely on; establishing an Office of the Senior’s Advocate and a toll-free number for seniors, creating opportunities for new housing and care options; improved access of information so families can make better choices on senior care facilities and developing a provincial elder abuse prevention response plan by the end of the year.
Ross said the most difficult part is getting the government to follow through on the recommendations and community groups and individuals will now have to apply pressure.
“I don’t know if this government will do what is necessary,” said Ross. “They do a lot of talking and nothing happens.”
Kim Slater, who is vice chairman of the Vancouver Island Association of Family Councils and chairman of the North Vancouver Island Association of Family Councils, said there is room for optimism because of the public discussion that will happen again.
He said the provincial senior’s advocate will give people who have been a victim of institutional neglect or abuse a voice and will be a good service people can use in a crisis.
Ross says the report also calls for standardized wait times to place people in supportive housing. She has been advocating for a woman who suffered a stroke and is paralyzed on her left side – that client has waited more than a year for placement.
“That kind of waiting period is unacceptable,” said Ross.
Meanwhile, seniors lack essential help around the home because home support services have diminished over the years, she said. That’s why Ross is pleased Carter recommends expanding non-medical home support and creating opportunities for new housing and care options.
The cost savings of keeping seniors in their homes is huge for the health system as opposed to housing an individual in acute or residential care, she said.
But Slater said the government's reaction and action plan to the report doesn’t offer anything “terribly new” in regards to residential care.
“We haven’t seen anything to address the fundamental problems with seniors' care,” said Slater. “They are ignoring the elephant in the room to one extent.”
He said there was nothing to address Bill 29, which is causing instability in the health-care system by allowing health employers the option of contracting out services.
reporter3@nanaimobulletin.com