Burden of care continues to grow for seniors
McMaster study on aging raises alarm about home care demand
Nearly half of older Canadians provide care to others, according to a groundbreaking Hamilton study on aging that is raising questions about whether home care providers are equipped to manage the rising demand.
“Caregiving has become a common role for Canadian families,” the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA) reported Tuesday.
“In future years, these numbers are projected to increase rapidly even as family capacity to provide care decreases.”
The research reports eight million Canadians are caregivers for family members or friends.
When the CLSA looked specifically at its 50,000 participants, it found 44 per cent of those aged 45 to 85 are caring for others. The highest number of caregivers were women or those between the ages of 55 to 64.
“Increasingly it is clear that caregiving can have negative consequences with caregivers reporting depression and financial difficulties at a higher rate than non-caregivers,” states the study about the significance of the findings.
The report suggests 461,000 Canadians have “unmet” needs for home care and eligibility depends on where you live.
“While most older adults prefer to receive care in their homes, home care is not covered under the Canada Health Act even when it is considered “medically necessary,” flags the national report led by McMaster University. “As a result, there is variability across and within provinces and territories in access to and provision of home-care services”
Alarms are also raised about the ability of those receiving or giving care to get out and participate in the community.
“There is growing concern over loneliness and social isolation among caregivers and care recipients,” states the research which is the first longitudinal study to collect data on caregiving among older Canadians.
But the full CSLA report sheds light on far more than just caregiving.
As the largest and most comprehensive study of the country’s aging population it tackles a wide range of health and socioeconomic aspects.
“It will be the only longitudinal study on health and aging in Canada,” said Michel Grignon, an associate professor in the Department of Health, Aging and Society who was not involved in the research.
“It will be really important because we don’t have anything like that for now in Canada. We are not able to follow the changes in health and circumstances.”
The first longitudinal results of the 20-year study are expected in 2019. But a report was released Thursday from the baseline data collection done between 2010 and 2015.
“We are thrilled to release our initial findings in this wide-ranging report in the hopes that they will be used to support the development of evidence-based health and social care policies and programs to improve the quality of life of Canadians at every age,” Dr. Parminder Raina, lead principal investigator and Canada research chair in geroscience at McMaster said in a statement.
The full 210-page report is available at www.clsa-elcv.ca/CLSAReport and was funded by the federal government, the Canadian Foundation for Innovation, the Public Health Agency of Canada, Employment and Social Development Canada, as well as a number of provinces and universities, including Ontario and McMaster, Bruyère Research Institute and Statistics Canada.
“If we stop looking at aging only in terms of decline and dependency, we can capitalize on the positive aspects of aging and invest in policies and programs that promote not only living long but also living well,” states the report about the gaps it hopes to fill.