Evidence of meeting #71 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 seniors.
A recording is available from Parliament.
4:40 p.m.
Liberal
November 7th, 2017 / 4:40 p.m.
Conservative
Steven Blaney Conservative Bellechasse—Les Etchemins—Lévis, QC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thanks to each and every one of your for your commitment to our seniors.
One witness said that we are about to face a grey tsunami.
I'm proud to be seated next to the last seniors minister, who is very dedicated to that cause. She was just showing me that we had a strong action plan. It's been two years, and we certainly will be supporting a strategy, because the demographic is getting more dramatic.
I will turn to the nurse from Trinity Western.
You mentioned in your testimony that only one-third of Canadians have access to palliative care. Canadians are very proud when newborn babies come into the world, but I believe—I am an engineer—that there's a life cycle and there's an end.
Is it socially acceptable in 2017 that two-thirds of Canadians are kind of left by themselves? Can you comment on this? What would be your recommendation to the government in that regard?
4:40 p.m.
Student, School of Nursing, Trinity Western University, As an Individual
The way we are dying in Canada has changed over the years as we advance with more and more chronic conditions. This reality must be translated into education for both our nurses and our medical system as we understand and approach palliative care.
Seniors should not have to fear the end of their life due to inadequate supports and inadequate access, and a lack of feeling of choice in a country such as Canada. I believe, as a federal government, how we care for our seniors at the most vulnerable time in their life reflects our priorities as a nation. We need to be providing seniors with choice, up until their last days, to have high-quality access to relieve their suffering. We have an ability to do it.
4:40 p.m.
Conservative
Steven Blaney Conservative Bellechasse—Les Etchemins—Lévis, QC
It certainly is a matter of respect.
As you say, the way we treat the most vulnerable tells a lot about us.
Does anyone want to comment on palliative care?
Does your organization provide palliative care?
4:40 p.m.
Executive Director, Centre action générations des aînés de la Vallée-de-la-Lièvre
We do not offer palliative care at the Centre action générations des aînés de la Vallée-de-la-Lièvre. It is provided at Maison Mathieu-Froment-Savoie, which is very well known in Gatineau.
4:45 p.m.
Conservative
Steven Blaney Conservative Bellechasse—Les Etchemins—Lévis, QC
In Lévis last week, we raised $250,000 for two palliative care beds. The community still has to come up with between 70% and 80% of the funding needed. This creates tremendous financial pressure within communities, and yet this is part of health care from cradle to grave. In my opinion, the government should pitch in the remaining amount.
I would like to go back to Mr. Robillard's point:
aging in place, aging in community. Aging implies a loss of ability,
simply to make meals, for example.
My fear with housing is we build a nice house and put the elder in it, and then we say, “Okay, get on with it.” Then we forget about the needs of this person, such as the fact that she may not want to cook her meals herself.
How do you see housing and aging together? Is there a new way to set up housing as Canadians are getting older? That's an open question.
4:45 p.m.
Student, School of Nursing, Trinity Western University, As an Individual
Housing is a social determinant of health, and it is so important to look at housing through that lens. What does that look like? We need to think about how housing is accessible, and in each situation we have to look at what that senior needs. Having the community wrap itself around that person's needs in their home is important.
4:45 p.m.
Conservative
Steven Blaney Conservative Bellechasse—Les Etchemins—Lévis, QC
What type of housing are you talking about? Are you talking of individual housing? Are you talking of community housing? Are you thinking of support for the elder?
4:45 p.m.
Student, School of Nursing, Trinity Western University, As an Individual
Yes, all of those things, because in so many ways 80-year-olds are the new 60-year-olds. We have to think about that. We have 80-year-olds who are still delivering babies, and we have 80-year-olds and 60-year-olds who are frail and in their home and can't walk up stairs. It really depends. There's no cookie-cutter solution, but we need to be addressing these needs based on the elders as they age and hit these different multiple illnesses.
4:45 p.m.
Conservative
Steven Blaney Conservative Bellechasse—Les Etchemins—Lévis, QC
Mr. McDonald, you've mentioned the strategy for home care. How can we get Canadians more involved in supporting elders in their needs?
4:45 p.m.
President, Closing the Gap Healthcare, Canadian Home Care Association
There's no problem with the concept. Everyone accepts that it's something that has to be done. It really comes back to looking at the way in which we fund the health care system and making sure we're increasing funding to the home care environment. We have a very hospital-centric focus. It's not only the wrong place for people to be because they get sick in hospitals, but also we find that they land in hospitals and then can't come out because they don't have the supports at home. That's the major problem we have in hospitals here, so it's a matter of actually looking at the budget and asking how we fund it and how we can make sure to put those supports in place for people to come out of hospital and actually go back into the community.
4:45 p.m.
Conservative
Steven Blaney Conservative Bellechasse—Les Etchemins—Lévis, QC
What is the share of home care? You mentioned it in your presentation.
4:45 p.m.
President, Closing the Gap Healthcare, Canadian Home Care Association
It's 3% to 4% of the budget.
4:45 p.m.
Conservative
Steven Blaney Conservative Bellechasse—Les Etchemins—Lévis, QC
Three to four per cent of the overall health budget goes into helping elders at home.
4:45 p.m.
President, Closing the Gap Healthcare, Canadian Home Care Association
Yes. Acute care is very expensive care. It's something we need to have as the last resort.
4:45 p.m.
Conservative
Steven Blaney Conservative Bellechasse—Les Etchemins—Lévis, QC
That goes back to the upstream approach of the nurse from Trinity Western.
Thank you.
4:45 p.m.
Liberal
Ramesh Sangha Liberal Brampton Centre, ON
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, witnesses, for the valuable input you have provided today.
Our present study is regarding inclusiveness and engagement of seniors. Everyone has talked about home care for seniors, except Mr. Ron Pike. You were talking about houses, resources, and community. That's also good, because they're making new friends, but home care is care in the home, with people living close to each other.
Melissa, you talked about upstream, and about social inclusiveness and the rapid advancement of the world. Can you suggest a new system we could adopt, using innovative methods, to bring this inclusiveness and social gathering together?
4:50 p.m.
Student, School of Nursing, Trinity Western University, As an Individual
When you read the brief we submitted on advancing inclusion and quality of life for Canadian seniors, our colleague shared a story in there about caring for both of her aging parents, one in Canada and one in Scotland, both with advanced dementia. The level of home care, support, and social inclusion that was considered and funded and supported by her neighbourhood and her community allowed her mother to age well in place in Scotland, avoid hospitalization, and remain in her home despite critical advancing dementia. By contrast, her father-in-law in Canada did not have nearly as good and positive an outcome. To think upstream we must shift, as Mr. McDonald suggested, from a hospital-based model—these institutions of isolation—to a more wellness-oriented, community-based model that supports an attitude of inclusivity and age-friendly communities.
4:50 p.m.
Liberal
Ramesh Sangha Liberal Brampton Centre, ON
What type of federal involvement in partnership with the provinces, territories, and the stakeholders should there be to remove this solitude and to bring inclusiveness into society?
4:50 p.m.
Student, School of Nursing, Trinity Western University, As an Individual
What can the feds do to promote social inclusion and prevent isolation? We need a mind-shift in how we look after people in institutions and how we think of people at home. There has to be a seamlessness between getting sick and needing critical care in a hospital and being at home and then needing care.
You need to be supported in your home, so we need to come up with and support initiatives where you have the identification of frail, elderly people and work in small interdisciplinary teams so that these people are able to stay in their homes as long as possible. We need to consider upstream and cost-effective solutions that keep people in their homes.
What does that look like? It means we invest in those kinds of programs and stop thinking so much about hospital care. The Canada Health Act doesn't include home care.
4:50 p.m.
Liberal
4:50 p.m.
Liberal
Bobby Morrissey Liberal Egmont, PE
Thank you.
The presenters over the last number of meetings have been consistent on the issues with seniors, but I want to be clear that it was our government that voted for the private member's bill put forward by my colleague from Sudbury to bring in a seniors strategy. Our government believes in developing a strategy. We are very much in line with the development of a seniors strategy supported by our government. As well, we have approved $6 billion in new funds over the next 10 years for improving care in the home, which is a significant investment.
Mr. McDonald, given that we are now looking at a strategy, what is different now from what we were doing in the past decade? What was done then versus where we are now? We're committed to a strategy and we have put additional money into it. Can you tell us how that compares to what occurred over the past 10 years?
4:50 p.m.
President, Closing the Gap Healthcare, Canadian Home Care Association
There are different demands now. We have a much higher demand for health care generally, and for home care specifically, than we had in the past. I think a lot of the investment we are seeing is unfortunately coming a little too late. We know that, but of course it's welcome.
4:50 p.m.
Liberal
Bobby Morrissey Liberal Egmont, PE
Excuse me, if it's coming too late now, when should it have occurred?
