Senior Population Increasing by 4% Per Year – While Everyone Says Changes Are Needed in Care, Nothing Significant Is Happening

I just listened to a radio program called The Current on CBC titled Fixing Long-Term Care After Devastation of the Pandemic. You can listen to this 33 minute podcast by going to www.cbc.ca , then find The Current with Matt Galloway and find that title.

Three people were interviewed:

Tamblyn Watts CEO CanAge www.canage.ca

Dr. Quoc Dinh Nguyễn, Geriatrician and Researcher at the University of Montreal Hospital

Dr. Bob Bell, Former Deputy Minister of Health and Long-Term Care Ontario

They talked about how we need to modernize, expand and standardize Home Care and Long Term Care across the country. We need to hold our governments accountable and if national standards for Long Term Care(LTC) are put in place, which we all know are desperately needed, that the Federal Government needs to properly fund the provinces. This would mean structural changes as well as a dedicated Seniors Care Transfer Payment along with a Health Care Transfer Payment.

The Federal Government cannot expect Provincial Governments to make the structural changes unless they properly fund the provinces. This is why it is extremely important to look at each Federal Party’s Platform and see who is willing to do what has been researched, documented and talked about for decades -properly fund seniors’ care.

One issue this panel raised, that I hadn’t thought about before, is that because the increase in our aging population is gradual about 4 % per year, it is not top of mind for most people. One speaker said we should look at the way we care for our seniors just as we do for climate change – if we don’t do something now, the fallout will be catastrophic. It would be costly to set up, yet will have long-term benefits for all.

Don’t let the care of seniors become a footnote, let’s keep it top of mind for all.