Mobility needs are falling through funding gap

Policies need to be changed to support disabled seniors, says Sheena Schoger.

I am an occupational therapist who started to work in 1969 and recently retired from the John McGivney Children’s Centre in Windsor after working there for 36 years. I am continuing to work, primarily with severely disabled adults in the community, including many with whom I worked as children and who are now adults. I prescribe seating and mobility devices for these adult clients.

Many of my clients are long-term disabled Canadian residents, who have been relying on the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) for all living expenses. It also pays them 25 per cent of equipment costs not covered by the Ontario Ministry of Health’s Assistive Devices Program (ADP), as well as the repair costs of this equipment.

Many of my clients lived in institutions for years. When these long-term institutions, such as the Southwest Regional Centre in Cedar Springs, were closed, clients were placed in new, fully accessible homes in their community. One home usually houses four to six clients. When these clients turn 65, they are automatically moved from the ODSP to Old Age Security (OAS) payments from the federal government. However, they also lose the ODSP coverage for their mobility equipment.

At that time in their lives, the equipment required to maintain their mobility and their postural and skeletal alignment becomes more complex and more expensive, as it does for the general population. I have clients who need equipment renewal, repair or replacement after the age of 65, but who are unable to get this equipment when they need it desperately because of funding issues. Historically, for the general population without insurance or financial security, before and after the age of 65, we have relied on community charitable groups to fund the equipment costs not covered by the ADP. This money is becoming more difficult to access and with the additional requests from those losing ODSP coverage, there is literally no money available to cover all the requests.

If the province extended the ODSP’s 25 per cent coverage for equipment and repairs to this long-term disabled population after they start to receive OAS at age 65, the dollars from charitable groups could go to the general population — who previously were taxpaying Canadians.

I am also aware that recent immigrants and refugees — who are not eligible for OAS — are covered by the ODSP. They receive coverage for their equipment and repairs indefinitely, including those over the age of 65. While I agree that this population deserves this funding, I have a problem with long-term disabled Canadian citizens being excluded from this coverage after age 65. Ontario Works has recently cut way back on funding assistance for this population and it is also difficult to access. Several years ago, the ADP cut the funding for mobility devices across the board, meaning that such things as wheelchair transport tie-downs are not covered and are considered extras and not “basic and essential” equipment. I recognize that ADP-funded equipment is primarily for mobility within the home, but realistically the equipment should also allow the client to access the world outside the home. This means that these clients are not able to be transported safely, as required by law, unless additional funding is secured.

The ADP policies and funding practices are therefore adding to the problem, and the pricing framework needs to be updated to reflect current costs and legal requirements. When an equipment vendor cannot provide certain ADP-approved equipment because the maximum funding through the ADP does not cover the wholesale cost of the equipment, that is a problem. Small independent stores selling mobility equipment are unable to absorb these cost overruns and therefore cannot provide the prescribed equipment, despite it being on the ADPapproved list. Provincial and federal government policies are impeding me and my fellow therapists’ ability to provide best practice mobility solutions to our clients in Ontario. Somewhere along the way there should be collaboration to provide the required services. Sheena A. Schoger is an occupational therapist who lives in Belle River.