Let seniors take charge of care, housing choices
By 2041, seniors will comprise nearly a quarter of Canada’s population, compared to just under 15 per cent today. Those over 85 will nearly triple to 5.8 per cent of the population. This shift will be more pronounced in B.C. than in any other province.
Current federal government priorities provide a historic opportunity to modernize our approach to housing and health care by building a system that puts seniors and families at the centre of decision-making for all aspects of their well-being.
The B.C. Seniors Living Association believes that we should not miss this opportunity to make the most of these federal policy priorities to produce better social, financial and health outcomes for a generation that helped to build this country, as well as for future generations.
In theory, there are many housing and support options for B.C. seniors. These include staying in one’s home; congregate or group living that offers communal hospitality services; assisted and supportive living that provides higher degrees of support; and complex and memory care to address medical aspects of aging.
In reality, many seniors and their families experience significant challenges in finding suitable housing options and related supports. Services and programs are usually organized around inconsistent and complex governmental, regulatory and organizational imperatives rather than the needs of seniors.
Public and social costs of the status quo can be numerous and high. Financially, some seniors are forced into expensive hospital settings when less medical and more home-like environments are more appropriate.
Socially, a growing number of B.C. middle-class families struggle to look after aging parents and children at the same time and seniors in small and remote communities are often forced to move away from friends and family to find adequate housing. There may also be implications for other segments of the housing market, as seniors without suitable alternatives become socially isolated in large single-family homes for too long.
B.C. seniors deserve better and this can be achieved through more effective and coherent policy and programming at all levels. More specifically, the best way to encourage diverse housing and care options that meet the varied needs of aging Canadians is through a framework that redirects control for seniors’ housing, supports and care to seniors and their families in a measured and responsible way.
France, Germany and Australia have implemented self-directed models of care delivery, while addressing quality control and several jurisdictions are establishing cash or in-kind personal budgets that allow seniors greater choice in their care and housing options. These models should be explored, adapted and piloted here at home.
BCSLA proposes action now by integrating three of the federal government’s key priorities — developing a National Housing Strategy, creating an innovation agenda and a national health accord with billions of dollars in new funding for home care — to support such a shift.
Other jurisdictions are moving ahead and putting seniors at the centre of decision-making in care and living choices. If, as a society, we believe that seniors should have maximum choice and flexibility on where to live; be able to live as independently as possible, and; retain full rights to manage their lives as they see fit, irrespective of whether they require assistance and support, then action is required in B.C. to ensure alignment of federal priorities with needs in our province. The time to start is today. Tony Baena is the president of the board at B.C. Seniors Living Association.