“Mom ended up in Emergency again when all she
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- Published on Thursday, 04 June 2015 17:15
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Paov --
B.C. is failing seniors in their homes.
Our report on the devastating impact that our fragmented and underfunded home support system has on seniors and their families is exploding in the media right now.[1,2]
The system that is supposed to help seniors age at home with dignity is at a breaking point and the Ministry of Health is feeling the pressure as multiple news sites cover the issue.[2] Now they need to hear from British Columbians.
The BC Ministry of Health’s goal is to support seniors to stay independent at home for as long as possible - but it’s harder than ever for seniors to get support.[3] In fact, we give our seniors the lowest level of home support in the country.[4]
Underfunding has stretched the system so thin that home support workers are forced to rush from client to client and they’re only allowed to do a very narrow set of tasks, even if there are other things a senior clearly needs. One care provider told us:
“We had...a client who wasn’t in the mood for...help with bathing and dressing and she said she just wanted to die…and the community health worker wasn’t in a position to just sit down and hold the client’s hand when she knew this was what was needed most.”[5]
Many of us have watched a loved one or neighbour suffer without the support they need – and now the call for better services for seniors at home is gaining momentum.
The report, Living Up to the Promise, by the Integrated Advocacy Group and BC Health Coalition shows that not enough support for seniors at home comes with a high price: seniors are unsupported, family caregivers overburdened, and costly hospital services are overcrowded because seniors can’t get the integrated community-based care they and their families need.
The BC Seniors Advocate tweeted the report out saying: "New BC study on home care echoes many of the concerns Seniors Advocate is hearing from seniors around B.C.”
We urgently need leadership from the Ministry of Health to support early interventions and team-based approaches in home support so that problems can be addressed before there is a full blown crisis and seniors end up in the hospital.
Living Up to the Promise recommends the Ministry of Health provide the necessary resources required for home support to increase staffing levels, teamwork and training to ensure that seniors can stay in their own homes for as long as possible.
Funding should be based on a ten-year plan for a home support delivery system that provides high quality, cost effective services, includes family caregivers, and supports seniors to better manage their chronic physical and mental health challenges.
Add your support to the call for high-quality, cost-effective care for seniors at home.
We know the effects of doing nothing, and we know the solutions. Now it is time for our government to take on the leadership needed to fix the system that years of underfunding and neglect has created.
BC Seniors need better care. Send a message now.
In support of seniors, families and caregivers,
Rick Turner and Edith MacHattie
BC Health Coalition Co-Chairs
p.s. We’re a broad non-profit coalition run by a small staff team - can you chip $5 or $10 to help us continue to work for better care for all? Every amount helps. Thank you.
p.p.s. The number of seniors in B.C. has nearly doubled over the past twelve years, but the number of seniors receiving home support in 2013-14 was virtually identical to the number receiving home support in 2001-02.[6] Send a message calling for better care now.
Read the full report here: Living Up to the Promise: Addressing the High Cost of Underfunding and Fragmentation in BC’s Home Support System
Sources:
[2] Vancouver Sun, June 3, 2015 (http://www.vancouversun.com/health/Report+calls+more+home+care+workers+seniors/11103981/story.html)
24hrs, June 4, 2015 (http://vancouver.24hrs.ca/2015/06/03/bc-home-support-at-breaking-point-study)
CBC Radio One, Early Edition, June 3, 2015 (http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/seniors-home-care-support-in-b-c-at-breaking-point-says-new-report-1.3098796)
BC Almanac, June 3, 2015: (https://itunes.apple.com/ca/podcast/b.c.-almanac-from-cbc-radio/id352379198?mt=2)
[3] Provincial/Regional Variation in Availability, Cost of Delivery and Wait Times for Accessing Home Care Services to Address Avoidable Admissions to Long Term Care, Alternate Level of Care Bed Days and Hospitalization, Keefe et al.(report for Health Canada)
Rick, BC Health Coalition
http://bchealthcoalition.nationbuilder.com/ British Columbia Health Coalition · 3102 Main St, 302, Vancouver, BC V5T 3G7, Canada
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