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B.C. begins overhaul of senior care

Number of B.C. seniors expected to double by 2029, health costs climb with age
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Health Minister Mike de Jong listens as Michael McKnight of the United Way explains non-medical home support pilot project.

Faced with a sweeping report from the B.C. Ombudsperson on problems and inconsistencies in senior care, Health Minister Mike de Jong has launched an effort to simplify the path navigated by families finding health care for the elderly.

Ombudsperson Kim Carter’s new report makes 176 recommendations, including a need to provide clearer information to people seeking a space in a care home or assisted living facility. De Jong said the health ministry will launch a toll-free phone line by June for people to express concerns about the system. A new seniors’ advocate office is to be established at an unspecified later date.

De Jong agreed with Carter’s finding that it is too difficult for families to find care spaces, and to determine if they are eligible for public subsidies. He also agreed that the government hasn’t sufficiently analyzed its home care support program, which helps keep 90 per cent of B.C. seniors out of care facilities.

The government announced a $15 million budget to expand a pilot program run by the United Way to help people with shopping, gardening, transportation and other non-medical supports so they can stay in their homes.

The program has been working in five Lower Mainland communities and it is to expand to up to 65 over the next three years.

Other measures are aimed at providing palliative care at home for terminally ill patients. Training for doctors and home health providers is to begin in April, and an after-hours palliative care nursing support phone line is also be established this spring.

De Jong said priority will be given to keeping elderly couples together when they have different health care needs that force them to be separated.

The seniors’ advocate should be able to deal with financial disputes at private care facilities as well as helping seniors find adequate care in the public system, de Jong said.

The report and promised overhaul comes as B.C. is beginning to feel the weight of baby boom retirement.

The number of B.C. seniors is approaching 800,000, or 12 per cent of the total population, and that is expected to double by 2029. Life expectancy in B.C. is nearly 82 years on average, and rising.

Health care costs rise rapidly in the later years of a person’s life, and the cost is compounded due to longer life expectancy.

The health ministry calculates that the average annual health care cost is $2,398 for a person between the ages of 15 and 64. From 65 to 69 the average cost jumps to $6,073, and after age 80 it triples again to $18,906 a year.

 

Elder abuse

One aspect of the action plan is to develop an elder abuse prevention strategy, and help organizations prevent and respond to elder abuse and neglect.

“Protecting vulnerable seniors from all forms of elder abuse is one of government’s top priorities,” said health minister Michael de Jong. “We recently announced a comprehensive seniors’ action plan to ensure seniors and their families are consulted on ways to create a more accessible, transparent and accountable approach to seniors’ care.”

Elder abuse may involve mistreatment, violence or even neglect. Abuse may be physical or sexual, psychological or emotional, or financial. Elder abuse can be at the hands of a spouse, an adult child or other family member. It can be inflicted by a caregiver, a service provider, or other person in a situation of power or trust. Abuse can happen when a senior is living in an institution or a private residence.

The province is holding consultations with regional stakeholders from a variety of sectors - community and police-based victim services and outreach services, not-for-profit, caregivers, Aboriginal, multicultural, justice, legal, senior-serving and financial. Representatives will be asked to share their expertise, experience and perspective on preventing elder abuse and neglect within B.C.

Elder abuse prevention consultations have already occurred with government ministries to identify existing strengths and challenges in the system, as well as to look for opportunities for cross-sector collaboration and co-ordination.