Thank you very much, Madam Chair, and thank you to our witnesses for being with us today.
Throughout this study we've heard a lot of things. We know we have an aging population and that we are living longer but not necessarily healthier. We also know it is inevitable that as our population ages some will develop the chronic conditions and diseases we've been talking about.
Following on my colleague's questions, we touched on the important role of the caregiver, which is why the government supports caregivers through a number of tax relief measures, including one that was most recently introduced, which is the $2,000 non-refundable family caregiver tax credit.
We've also recently launched a three-year external research program to fill in important knowledge gaps on key caregiver issues. In 2012 the Government of Canada will also run a national caregiving survey that will refresh the national data to help us better understand the challenges that caregivers face.
What continues to rise to the surface during these discussions is the need for individuals to take or at least increase personal responsibility for their health. It's unfortunate that sometimes we don't do what we should do until we have to—I guess that's human nature.
I do have a couple of questions for Ms. Eng.
In a report issued by CARP in February of this year, members were asked how they could best increase personal responsibility for their health. I think 54% indicated it was adopting a healthy lifestyle. Has CARP followed up on this study? Does a majority of the CARP membership actively pursue a healthy lifestyle? How did they define “healthy lifestyle”, and what kind of guidance does CARP provide in this regard?