The Wildrose Party in Alberta has expressed interest in seeing the government compensate families who provide palliative care and removing rules that limit coverage of drug costs only for those in the long-term care facilities. There is also need for increased funding for home care and transportation for seniors. This is especially an issue in rural communities where many do not have access to programs such as Meals on Wheels or home care.
Saskatchewan’s Regina-Qu’Appelle health region has recently launched the Home First Quick Response Home Care initiative, a pilot project that seeks to keep seniors in their communities by identifying seniors in emergency rooms that need additional care to allow them to return to their communities. The aims of this initiative are to reduce hospital admissions, increase the speed of patients’ visits in hospital and respond to improve responses to crises in the community. The program would also increase home care support and short term aid. To qualify for the program, seniors will meet several of the following criteria: “living alone, walking with difficulty, frequent ER visits and taking five or more medications with no doctor in their community.” Over the next two years this pilot project is being carried out at two Regina hospitals. If successful, it could extend throughout Saskatchewan.
Ultimately, as David Marit explains, at the end of the day, seniors are often those who built the community and they don’t want to move. Holly Schick, executive director of the Saskatchewan Seniors Mechanism, explains that housing is only one concern out of a larger group of concerns that need to be addressed. Creating “age friendly communities” also entails providing things like good lighting, safe sidewalks, consistent snow removal and accessible programs for seniors. As Schick explains, it is important that people are not just surviving, but maintaining a good quality of life.
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