You have the document I distributed. It was produced by the Gerontological Advisory Council, which was set up by Veterans Affairs Canada, but does not exist any more. I believe it ceased to exist about two years ago. I was a member of that council from start to finish, that is, for about 10 years. The council worked closely with the Department of Veterans Affairs. The follow-up given to the committee's advice was very interesting. In fact, every member of the council, in particular academics, all had a very positive experience in working with the department to improve all services provided to veterans.
In 2005 or thereabouts, we thought it would be interesting to review all of the services provided to veterans, especially because there were two other projects in Quebec, namely SIPA and the PRISMA research project, which provided integrated services to the elderly. So we suggested to the representatives of Veterans Affairs Canada that they emulate that model.
There were three major components. First, health promotion. At the time, the idea was to help veterans who were still in terrific health to stay healthy. Most of the elderly were in fact in very good health.
The second component involved what we called guides. Some people called them navigators. These were people who helped individuals who were beginning to develop functional disabilities and one or two chronic illnesses, but who were still in a stable situation. They were given the appropriate services. This group represented between 25% and 30% of the elderly.
Lastly, there was the largest group amongst the veterans. In the elderly population in general, this group represents about 8%, 10% or 12%. But the last component was a truly integrated system which was based on the PRISMA and SIPA models. It meant that veterans with very complex needs had access to all the services they needed, both social and health services, to help them maintain the best possible quality of life at the end of their lives. But this model was not adopted by the Department of Veterans Affairs. In fact, it was the only measure which the advisory council recommended which was not adopted by the Department of Veterans Affairs.