7 systems-wide benefits of expanding home support

Details: Published on Sunday, 29 November -0001 16:00; Written by editor

NationBuilder r1 Check out our new blog post! ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

Dear Paov,

We've just released a new blog post that explains a much underrated public solution with systems-wide benefits for public health care: home support.

I've included a preview below, and you can click here to read the full post.

As we prepare for a provincial election in October, our team at the BC Health Coalition has been working with our leadership to build our dream platform highlighting six solutions that could transform our health care system. These public solutions, like the expansion of publicly funded home care and home support, can be swiftly implemented and are so much more than a short-term fix.

We'll be launching our Vision for BC Health Care platform in September and letting you know how you can be part of securing commitments from candidates to implement our solutions if elected. In the meantime, we hope you enjoy this sneak peak into one of our solutions.

If you want to make sure you are up-to-date on our provincial election plans, here are two quick steps you can take:

Sing our Vote Public Health Care pledge to be sure to receive our platform and elections guide
Register for our next General Meeting, to be held... virtually via Zoom on September 24 from 1-3pm. We'll present our platform, election commitment rubric, and plan to work together to push candidates to make public health care commitments.

In solidarity,

Audrey Guay (she/her)
Lead Organizer, BC Health Coalition
https://www.bchealthcoalition.ca/

7 systems-wide benefits of expanding home care & home support

Reduce emergency room overcrowding
People who do not have access to care in community are often forced to turn to their local emergency room for non-urgent care needs. Regular at home care and monitoring can prevent minor issues from escalating into emergencies that require more intense interventions.
Free up hospital beds by speeding up patient discharge
Up to 18% of inpatient hospital beds are occupied by patients that could be discharged if they had access to community-based alternatives with the appropriate intensity of clinical care and non-clinical support. Because these services are not available, patients stay longer in hospitals and are often readmitted shortly after being discharged.
Help reduce surgical wait times

Fully-funded home support would mean that patients who are waiting for or recovering from surgery can receive appropriate care at home, rather than in hospitals. This approach can lead to fewer cancellations of scheduled surgeries, faster recovery, reduced hospital stays, and more efficient patient flow. Investing in home support, especially for seniors, helps reduce overall wait times for everyone.
Relieve caregiver burnout

Overall, 34% of family caregivers in B.C. are in distress and this rises to 57% when looking at clients who are receiving less than an hour per day of home support. Increasing access to home support and respite supports caregivers in their desire to keep their loved ones at home and out of long-term residential care as long as possible.
Free up long-term care beds for residents with higher care needs

In BC, 61% of seniors moving into a long-term care facility had no home support 90 days prior to admission. B.C.’s rate of newly admitted long-term care residents with low care needs is 34% higher than the national average. These statistics tell us that providing basic home support could easily allow more people to live at home, helping reduce wait lists for residential care.
Improve primary health care access
When community health workers are included in primary care teams, other team members like family doctors and nurse practitioners can focus on preventative and planned care. Patients can be referred to other team members like physiotherapists and dietitians who can also help address issues before they escalate to emergencies. Team-based care also leads to better workload distribution, helping address recruitment and retention issues in primary care.
Invest in climate resilience
Expanding home support at the scale we need could create tens of thousands of new care economy jobs in Canada. These jobs are good for local economies and are less carbon intensive than alternatives that require large-scale infrastructure development. Community health workers could also be well positioned to take part in emergency responses by ensuring vulnerable residents have life-saving touch points during extreme climate events.