What seniors are worried about: being homeless, low income, no doctor
One senior spoke about the anxiety she feels not having a family doctor after losing four in the past eight years.
Another, the president of the local seniors centre, asked what she should tell a woman in her 80s crying on the phone because she’s got nowhere to live and is reduced to the indignity of couch-surfing with friends after a lifetime of paying taxes.
The scarcity of physicians and homelessness were just two of the issues that surfaced at a recent town hall meeting in Campbell River with provincial Seniors Advocate Isobel Mackenzie.
The independent advocate is touring smaller towns and cities to talk about trends and issues impacting seniors provincially and to hear concerns unique to individual communities.
One in five B.C. residents is 65 or older, and that demographic is rising, Mackenzie said.
The good news is that seniors are living longer, healthier lives and the risk of dementia isn’t increasing overall with advanced age, she said, adding 80 per cent of people over 85 don’t have dementia.
Additionally, the vast majority of seniors in the province, 95 per cent, live independently in their own homes, she said.
However, positive trends are tempered by some serious challenges — and first and foremost is low incomes, Mackenzie said.
“Half of B.C. seniors have an income of $31,000 a year or less,” she said. “Which is [equivalent] to a minimum-wage job, to put it in perspective.”
Nothing other than primary health-care services is covered by the province’s medical services plan, Mackenzie said.
Dental care, hearing aids and glasses are the top health-care costs seniors call her office about, she said.
“If you have to go to a podiatrist … or you need a walker or wheelchair, none of it is covered in B.C.,” she said.
Health care versus help care
Many seniors are left on their own after a partner dies, Mackenzie said. Those individuals, and seniors lucky enough to have family members helping them, are often confused about what community supports are available due to a fragmented and complex delivery system.
It’s not necessarily a question of poor health but insufficient help that’s negatively impacting seniors, she said.
Folks must wade through bureaucracy and multiple agencies to get simple supports such as housekeeping, home support and aid for renovations so they can age in place. “We’re leaving people on their own to figure out how to get this piece and this piece and this piece.”
Many seniors who do not want to — or necessarily need to — live in long-term care are moving into facilities because there aren’t services in their community or they can’t access them, Mackenzie said. “People are completely overwhelmed,” she said. “And the only solution we offer is long-term care, and it’s costing us more.”
Mackenzie said every town should have an identifiable hub for seniors — a one-stop-shop for services, health supports and programs with case managers on-site to help seniors and their families navigate the system.
Campbell River service providers at the meeting agreed, but noted there weren’t enough resources or funding from senior levels of government, particularly for a smaller community. Marcia McKay, president of the Campbell River Seniors’ Centre Society, said the Better at Home program in the community could only provide its 88 clients with an hour a month of housekeeping — and another 44 people are on the waiting list.
Rural communities lack appropriate housing or rentals
But even more concerning, McKay said, is the problem of housing seniors in Campbell River. A low vacancy rate and restricted rental stock, along with rents comparable to those in urban centres such as Vancouver and Victoria, are leaving seniors in a precarious position, McKay said.
A housing report by the Strathcona Regional District, which includes Campbell River, found housing and supports for seniors were a prominent concern. Seniors made up approximately 29 per cent of the population in the Strathcona Regional District in 2021, and that was expected to rise as high as 35 per cent by 2031, the report said.
The survey highlighted a need for affordable and accessible multi-unit housing, particularly rental housing, along with increased home care.
Although only 20 per cent of B.C. seniors rent, affordability is a big concern for those contacting her office, Mackenzie said.
“But for seniors, it’s also the lack of appropriate housing,” she said.
Homeowners in cities can sell their home and downsize to a condo in an area with public transportation and that’s walking distance to services. But it’s another matter for seniors living in rural communities.
“Particularly in rural communities, there’s nowhere to go if you sell your house,” she said. “There’s a real lack of places for seniors that can provide any
kind of support and services and that isn’t long-term care.”
While there are common seniors issues across B.C. and ones particular to individual communities, more widespread issues such as the lack of doctors, housing choices and support services are amplified in rural communities, Mackenzie said.
Rachel Blaney, MP for North Island-Powell River and the NDP critic for seniors, said the town hall underlined the critical need for safe and appropriate housing for seniors across the country.
“Here in Campbell River, one of the things we’re hearing is more and more seniors are at risk of being without a home at all.”
The federal government shouldn’t really be shaping changes to service systems, as communities and provinces have a better understanding of local and regional needs, she said.
“I don’t think a national solution is the best solution,” she said. “I really think that has to come from the community.”
An important factor fuelling the shortage of family doctors across B.C. is that wages are not competitive with other areas of medicine, especially once the overhead and administrative hassles of a practice are factored in, Mackenzie said.
Senior Bonnie Thomson said she began experiencing difficulties securing a doctor when she moved to Campbell River eight years ago. “But it’s a problem for everybody, obviously, and seniors in particular,” Thomson said. “And I’m just wondering if there’s any kind of action plan to address that concern?”
Mackenzie isn’t confident the province or the federal government is prepared to spend what it will take to deal with some of the critical issues facing seniors.
“Is there a plan?” Mackenzie said. “The government will tell you they’re working on one, but I would not be optimistic.”
Mackenzie said she’s been hearing about doctor shortages in rural communities for the entire eight years she’s been seniors advocate. But the issue is only gaining serious attention now that the crisis has reached urban centres. “So my joke is now that it’s affecting the city folk, maybe it will finally get fixed.”