Evidence of meeting #68 for Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities in the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was need.
A recording is available from Parliament.
4:40 p.m.
Liberal
4:40 p.m.
Chief Executive Officer, Langley Lodge, Langley Care Society
That's the absolute upper limit, yes.
4:40 p.m.
Liberal
Dan Ruimy Liberal Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge, BC
Okay.
That hasn't been adjusted with the new funds that were allocated.
4:40 p.m.
Liberal
Dan Ruimy Liberal Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge, BC
Do you have any other ideas as to what home care should look like? What would you like to see for home care?
4:40 p.m.
Chief Executive Officer, Langley Lodge, Langley Care Society
It has to be so many more things. There have to be more hours available and more flexibility in how it's delivered, having people assigned to go to the same homes instead of a different person every day, three times a week. Overnight and on weekends, people need home care.
What does a 95-year-old spouse do for the other 20 hours a day to look after her 97-year-old husband?
4:40 p.m.
Liberal
Dan Ruimy Liberal Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge, BC
I have about two seconds left.
It was four hours. What would you see it being? What would make sense?
4:40 p.m.
Chief Executive Officer, Langley Lodge, Langley Care Society
It could be all the way up to overnight, 24-hour care.
4:40 p.m.
Liberal
4:40 p.m.
Conservative
Alice Wong Conservative Richmond Centre, BC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you very much to all the guests who came from different parts of our provinces and territories—not from territories yet—different provinces and different disciplines. I can see that almost all our strategies are here.
Kudos especially to the Canadian Medical Association. We worked closely before. Thank you for your past services. Your submission has a lot of outlines for exactly what our strategies should look like.
I would like to especially comment on a few things that some of our witnesses mentioned, the whole idea of two situations where you have very healthy seniors who still need our services in other ways like staying healthy, and then those very frail seniors who need extra help, especially on the medical and caring sides. Also, we have lonely seniors who are healthy, but they don't know where to go. They feel lonely and end up becoming ill because of all the negative impact on their mental situation, which has also been documented.
I want to comment on a few things. You mentioned the Silver Line in the U.K., which a lot of seniors call. I understand that the new horizons program also funds local organizations to do exactly that, to have volunteers and train volunteers to do that.
Do you see a need for increased funding so that this part of our senior services can be really enriched?
4:45 p.m.
Chief Executive Officer, Langley Lodge, Langley Care Society
Yes, we have the new horizons program. We just started it this summer, but I think it could grow significantly. We're not looking at tremendous resources, because it is volunteer driven and volunteer supported. I think it is something that could be rolled out across Canada, that type of outreach program. We've had a good response from people who want to volunteer as well as people who want to participate.
4:45 p.m.
Conservative
Alice Wong Conservative Richmond Centre, BC
Thank you.
My next question goes to the big organizations.
Do you also see the need for longer-term funding, like three or five years, so that your organizations can really do something that is sustainable?
I'm referring to CMA or the audiologists.
Ms. Wright or anyone of you.
4:45 p.m.
Director of Speech-Language Pathology and Communication Health Assistants, Speech-Language & Audiology Canada
Yes, I think it's very important to have sustainable funding. The health conditions that seniors face relating to their communication and hearing issues will not go away. Programs need to be put in place that have sustainable funding.
What we've been experiencing in the last number of years is cutbacks in speech-language pathology and audiology positions within hospitals on the assumption that certain aspects of the care we provide should be provided in the community; however, funding has not gone into the community to have those services in place.
That fits with the Canadian Medical Association's idea of the medical home, for example, where there might be medical practice that would have other health professionals involved there as well in order to help address some of the speech and hearing issues in those more vulnerable, frail seniors.
4:45 p.m.
Conservative
Alice Wong Conservative Richmond Centre, BC
I heard a lot of issues regarding health care. Of course, this mainly falls under the jurisdiction of the provincial government.
4:45 p.m.
Director of Speech-Language Pathology and Communication Health Assistants, Speech-Language & Audiology Canada
Exactly.
4:45 p.m.
Conservative
Alice Wong Conservative Richmond Centre, BC
It seems to need more federal, provincial, and territorial coordination. We used to have the FPT senior ministers forum every year so seniors housing, health, everything could be communicated. The provinces also have their own jurisdiction over the cities. All three levels of government are tackling the same challenges.
Would you say that's a model we can follow?
4:45 p.m.
President, Canadian Medical Association
You are raising a very important point by mentioning the financing of the system and by asking who the leader must be in this area.
In a country such as ours, we really expect the federal government to be the leader, the one who shows the way and sets the guidelines that the provinces will apply.
However, the investment you were talking about is very important. You need sufficient investment. Furthermore, if we are transforming the health care system, as I was suggesting earlier, there will certainly be a cost and hard work attached to that. It has been well documented that 20% of the beds occupied by people waiting to be placed cost nearly $1,000 a day in Ontario. The amount is similar in each province at $842 per day. But a place in a long-term care facility, the place for a patient who requires ongoing care, is $126 a day, and home care costs $45 a day. That's between $45 and $842 a day to keep these people at home in reasonable comfort, so there is room for manoeuvre.
Yes, an investment is needed, but the outdated health care system that has been around for 50 years must also be changed and must be adapted to a society that has evolved.
Change is always difficult. People say that it is important not to change only when there is a crisis, but this crisis is very close to us, and if we don't take care of it within 20 years, some of our loved ones will find themselves very disadvantaged in society.
4:45 p.m.
Liberal
4:45 p.m.
Liberal
Ramesh Sangha Liberal Brampton Centre, ON
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, witnesses, for coming today with this valuable information regarding the care of seniors.
We talk about inclusivity regarding the engagement of seniors. In your statement, you talked about common spaces in seniors' social housing. Builders don't want to build it. It's costly if they leave the space, but that's the best place for seniors to get together and engage with each other.
What else do you think can be done besides providing more funds to build good housing?
4:50 p.m.
Associate Professor, Cape Breton University, As an Individual
Besides additional funding to support the inclusion of the common space, what else could be done to support healthy aging for seniors moving into unassisted rental housing?
4:50 p.m.
Associate Professor, Cape Breton University, As an Individual
Paying attention to transportation comes up a lot when we're working with rural communities. The Nova Scotia government has an action plan now for an aging population, and one of their action areas is on building better transportation in rural communities. That's certainly one of them. It could be partnerships with non-profit organizations in communities that are providing services to seniors, including Meals on Wheels or exercise programs, for example. I've certainly seen that in the province. A whole host of things could be done to improve quality of life for people who are living in unassisted rental housing.
4:50 p.m.
Liberal
4:50 p.m.
Liberal
Stéphane Lauzon Liberal Argenteuil—La Petite-Nation, QC
My sincere thanks to our witnesses.
You have made some very interesting and constructive points.
You talked at length about housing, but I would like to hear you talk about a greater role that the federal government could play. Do you think you have to go back to the National Building Code to build new structures? Do you think we should work with the provinces, territories and municipalities to change the building code so that the housing is adapted or adaptable, if necessary?
4:50 p.m.
Associate Professor, Cape Breton University, As an Individual
I can go first. Maybe; that's an interesting idea. I'm not sure if it is absolutely required. With the money that's coming to the provinces and territories through the investment in affordable housing program, I think there are specific requirements to which builders have to adhere. For example, currently, just across the board for affordable rental housing in Nova Scotia, 10% of the units have to be barrier-free. That's an example—just changing that requirement.
If a project is specifically for seniors, then adding a common room would be an eligible expense, for example. There are other jurisdictions.... In the province of Quebec, when I was working on this research project in 2012, having a common room in certain kinds of housing was an eligible expense for developers.
