Evidence of meeting #37 for Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities in the 43rd Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was seniors.
A recording is available from Parliament.
4:10 p.m.
Professor and Director, University of Manitoba, Centre on Aging
In terms of one specific medical condition, no. I think it goes across all the cardiovascular...diabetes, cancer and so on. I would imagine there are issues with all of them.
4:10 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Sean Casey
Thank you, Dr. Porter. Thank you, Mr. Tochor.
Next we have Mr. Long, please, for five minutes.
4:10 p.m.
Liberal
Wayne Long Liberal Saint John—Rothesay, NB
Thank you, Chair, and good afternoon to my colleagues.
Thank you so much to our witnesses this afternoon. Again, your advocacy is very much appreciated.
I want to touch on isolation and mental health for seniors. Certainly, as politicians during campaigns, we all go door to door and we have one-on-one direct conversations. I would say without question that when I would leave the doors of seniors who were alone, who were isolated, was when I was the most shaken and concerned.
Certainly, as a government, we came forth with some things. We raised the GIS for low-income single seniors. We lowered the age of eligibility from 67 to 65. We're going to now raise the old age pension for those age 75 and older by 10%.
With respect to COVID, however, the pandemic itself has created challenges and exposed increased levels of need for direct government support during crisis for all Canadians but especially for seniors. We want to make sure and recognize the importance of ensuring that seniors are equipped with the mental health supports to combat the social isolation of being away from family and loved ones.
Can you both touch on the issues that have become more pronounced due to the COVID-19 pandemic with respect to mental health and isolation for seniors?
We'll start with you, Ms. Boscart.
4:15 p.m.
Executive Dean, School of Health and Life Sciences, Conestoga College, As an Individual
Yes, absolutely. One of the things I think we'll see come out loud and clear after doors open again and people [Technical difficulty—Editor] is dementia. I think a lot of that has been hidden. In addition to all of the delayed surgeries that need to happen, I think we'll find a lot of people who now have advanced in their dementia journey a lot faster than we expected. None of those diagnoses or treatments have started in a year and a half right now. I do think that this will be a significant problem.
Building on Dr. Porter's answers, I'll cite two things that really require our close attention and, hopefully, an investment. One is day programming within the community through an equitable, accessible approach where people who live by themselves in the community or with care providers can actually have meaningful activities. This is not only for the seniors, especially for those seniors who live with dementia, but it's also to help the care partners or the family members cope with everything that's going on.
We are expecting that all of these people are going back to work, and their loved ones, older loved ones, may have developed dementia. We know that those numbers are skyrocketing and are probably a lot higher than we think they are—one in 10 by 2036. All of those people will have to be left alone, and people will have to go back to work.
4:15 p.m.
Liberal
Wayne Long Liberal Saint John—Rothesay, NB
Thank you .
Ms. Porter.
Oh, sorry, I thought you had finished.
4:15 p.m.
Executive Dean, School of Health and Life Sciences, Conestoga College, As an Individual
No problem.
The second component, and Ms. Porter can talk more about this, is to really get serious about providing financial, mental and health support for the caregivers. They provide the majority of care in our communities. In order for them to balance everything else, they will need support.
4:15 p.m.
Liberal
Wayne Long Liberal Saint John—Rothesay, NB
Ms. Porter, could you give me some comments on that, please?
4:15 p.m.
Professor and Director, University of Manitoba, Centre on Aging
Absolutely. We certainly hear all the time about how burdened caregivers are, and when we've done consultations around the province of Manitoba, we've certainly heard that there's a lot of need for respite care. There just isn't enough respite care, and one can only imagine how challenging that has been because respite programs were closed during the pandemic.
In looking at the Canadian longitudinal study on aging, some of their data and some of the anxiety and mental health issues, it was actually some of the younger seniors who were experiencing some of the larger challenges. Part of that might be because of caregiving issues.
Caregiving is a huge issue, so on this whole idea of aging in place, we can't just be thinking about the older person. We have to do more to be thinking about the caregivers and coming up with inventive ways that others can help.
We're starting to try to find a home sharing program, where we can have students living with older people in their own homes and taking some of the pressure off of caregivers, not by replacing home care, not by replacing caregivers, but by providing caregivers with some peace of mind, both that there's someone in the home who could be helping the person and that they have someone that they can be talking to on a regular basis.
4:15 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Sean Casey
Thank you, Mr. Long.
Thank you, Dr. Porter.
Ms. Chabot, you have the floor for two and a half minutes.
4:15 p.m.
Bloc
Louise Chabot Bloc Thérèse-De Blainville, QC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
My question is for Ms. Porter.
You said that the reality of seniors wasn't necessarily the same across the board, which I found intriguing. I understand that the reality of a 68‑year‑old senior, a 73‑year‑old senior or a 77‑year‑old senior may be different.
In terms of financial health, you said that observations can be made for certain age groups. Statistics show that some seniors decide to continue working between the ages of 65 and 74. In many cases, they do so because they don't have a choice. Their income is too low.
Do you agree with that? Do you have any statistics to share?
4:20 p.m.
Professor and Director, University of Manitoba, Centre on Aging
I don't have any specific numbers, but I know that the number of older people who are above 65 and are continuing to work is growing. That's a growing segment of the population who is deciding to continue to work. Yes, there are financial reasons for that, but there's a lot of people who do it because they find it very satisfying. It provides a lot of meaning to their life, so they want to continue to work.
There was an article about a 95-year-old lawyer. People are continuing to work. Unfortunately, due to the pandemic, I think we're going to see some people who will have to continue to work longer, particularly those who have put money into their small businesses to keep things going and they've taken from their retirement fund. I think there will be a phenomenon of people working longer in the future.
4:20 p.m.
Bloc
Louise Chabot Bloc Thérèse-De Blainville, QC
We're finding that family caregivers, both in public facilities for seniors and at home, play an important role. Many people aged 65 and over are family caregivers.
Do these people need to bear an additional financial burden because they're family caregivers?
4:20 p.m.
Professor and Director, University of Manitoba, Centre on Aging
Yes, absolutely, they do.
Certainly, as we see more people living into their late eighties and nineties, many of their children who are in their sixties and seventies are potentially still working and also caregiving for their older parents. Yes, there are certainly out-of-pocket costs associated with caregiving.
4:20 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Sean Casey
Thank you, Ms. Chabot.
Next is Ms. Gazan, please, for two and a half minutes.
4:20 p.m.
NDP
Leah Gazan NDP Winnipeg Centre, MB
Thank you so much, Mr. Chair.
My question is for Dr. Porter.
You mentioned that it's the UN Decade of Healthy Ageing. You spoke briefly about the World Health Organization's global action plan and strategy on aging and health.
Could you expand on that? Especially as you were speaking about ableism and aging, part of me feels that we need to start looking at what's happening to seniors in this country as a very serious human rights matter that needs to be dealt with.
4:20 p.m.
Professor and Director, University of Manitoba, Centre on Aging
Absolutely. There certainly are campaigns out there to have a UN charter on human rights for older people. The pandemic has bolstered the advocates for this even further, particularly given what happened in long-term care.
Canada did endorse this global strategy and action plan, but I'm not aware that we actually have a full-fledged plan for what Canada is going to do as a country. We see some things happening, as I mentioned, with the National Seniors Council around ageism, but there are other aspects of how we should be shifting our health care system as well. It's not focusing so much on acute demands and having all of our resources put into hospitals, but thinking about the chronic demands, as well as ensuring that people have good, functional abilities, which is what the definition of health is for the WHO.
We do need to have a concerted action through the federal government as well as all the provincial governments, because there are many things that cross jurisdictions. Municipalities are very involved. An age-friendly environment is a big part of this as well, making sure that our environments enable people to age well and to contribute still to their communities.
We have many older people who make great contributions. One thing that was a surprise to many in the pandemic was that older people weren't able to volunteer anymore. Some organizations, like food banks, relied on older people to keep those food banks going.
There are lots of ways we can work toward this decade of healthy aging as a country.
4:25 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Sean Casey
Thank you, Ms. Gazan.
Dr. Porter and Dr. Boscart, I want to thank you very much for the work that you do, for your expertise in working with seniors and for being with us to share some snippets of that expertise today. It is extremely interesting and of great value to our study. Thanks again for being with us. We wish you a good day.
We have another panel joining us shortly. We're going to suspend for a few minutes while we do a sound check for them.
4:30 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Sean Casey
I call the meeting to order. Today's meeting is a study of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on seniors.
I'd like to make a few comments for the benefit of witnesses.
Before speaking, please wait until I recognize you by name. When you are ready to speak, you can click on the microphone icon to activate your microphone.
Interpretation is available in this video conference. You have the choice at the bottom of your screen of floor, English, or French.
When speaking, please speak slowly and clearly. When you aren't speaking, your microphone should be on mute.
I would now like to welcome the witnesses to continue our discussion. They'll have five minutes to give their opening remarks. The members can then ask them questions.
Today we're joined by representatives from the Coalition pour la dignité des aînés: Lise Lapointe, member and president of the Association des retraitées et retraités de l'éducation et des autres services publics du Québec; Pierre Lynch, member and president of the Association québécoise de défense des droits des personnes retraitées et préretraitées; and Rose‑Mary Thonney, member and president of the Association québécoise des retraité(e)s des secteurs public et parapublic.
From the Office of the Seniors Advocate of British Columbia, we have Isobel Mackenzie, seniors advocate.
We'll start with Ms. Thonney.
Ms. Thonney, I want to welcome you to the committee. You have the floor for five minutes.
4:35 p.m.
Rose-Mary Thonney Member and President, Association québécoise des retraité(e)s des secteurs public et parapublic, Coalition pour la dignité des aînés
Good afternoon.
The introductions have already been made, so I won't repeat them. I'm here today on behalf of the Coalition pour la dignité des aînés, a group of six associations representing over 150,000 seniors. My colleagues Lise Lapointe and Pierre Lynch, whose associations have already been mentioned, are here with me. They can answer your questions.
We're here to advocate for the priorities that seniors widely agree on.
The pandemic's toll has been particularly hard on the members of our associations. During this period, a number of them have experienced physical and mental health issues, but also significant financial pressure. The pandemic, coupled with a lack of action prior to this period, has left many seniors in a vulnerable situation.
The lack of health transfers to the provinces has resulted in an under‑funded health care system. The impact on seniors' care is felt on a daily basis.
The coalition believes that increased health transfers to the provinces are necessary to improve the living conditions of seniors. Only 25% of the money allocated to long‑term care is spent on home support. Only 3% of seniors in Quebec live in long‑term care facilities. The rest live at home or in seniors' residences. In Quebec, 18% of seniors live in seniors' residences, compared to 6% in the rest of Canada. Seniors deserve more and better than this.
The past year's crisis has also affected the mental health of seniors. The plight of long‑term care facilities and fears about the spread of COVID‑19 have isolated the most vulnerable seniors and led to greater anxiety issues. A number of seniors are suffering from real mental health issues. Services are very difficult to access through the public system and very expensive in the private sector.
The coalition is also very concerned about the financial situation of seniors.
In its latest budget, the government announced a 10% increase in old age security benefits starting in summer 2022, along with a one‑time cheque for $500 for people aged 75 and over. This isn't enough. It covers only a portion of vulnerable seniors. Nearly four out of ten people aged 65 and over rely on the guaranteed income supplement to make ends meet. These people deserve the same consideration as people aged 75 and over. The increase provided by the government must also be available to people aged 65 and over.
The income of a person aged 65 and over who just receives the old age security pension and the guaranteed income supplement amounts to only $18,000. This amount is well below the adequate income threshold. Moreover, there are people who receive only a pension that doesn't fully meet their needs.
We suggest that you establish a new financial allocation geared directly towards seniors who don't have enough income to live on.
The coalition is also proposing that you improve the medical expense tax credit and lower the eligibility threshold from 3% to 1.5% of the income for people aged 65 and over.
The government must do more to provide a decent income for seniors.
The benefits of these types of measures would be felt across the country and would have a positive impact on both the living conditions of seniors and the economy. Government investments in improving living conditions would be redistributed throughout the Canadian economy and would promote an economic recovery that includes seniors.
As you can see in its document entitled “38 solutions for the dignity of seniors,” the coalition provides many concrete and easy‑to‑implement proposals.
We're ready, and my colleagues in particular are ready, to answer your questions. Thank you.
4:40 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Sean Casey
Thank you, Ms. Thonney.
Next we have Ms. Mackenzie for five minutes, please.
The floor is yours.
4:40 p.m.
Isobel Mackenzie Seniors Advocate, Office of the Seniors Advocate of British Columbia
Thank you very much for inviting me to provide my insights on the impact of COVID-19 on seniors. I have to tell you that in my 25-plus years of working with seniors, I can honestly say that nothing has matched this past year for both moments of breathtaking despair and also occasions of spectacular inspiration.
We know that the nation has been focused on seniors in long-term care, and COVID-19 has revealed for all of us to see what life can be like for some who live in nursing homes. Canadians didn't like what they saw and very loudly told their governments that we need to do better. We are starting to see those commitments flow to long-term care from both our federal and provincial governments. That signals a brighter future, hopefully, but a caveat from somebody who's been around for quite a while is that these fiscal commitments need to be followed with expectations, and the expectations need to be able to be measured. Standards are only as good as their monitoring and enforcement.
We also need to remember that the changes are not going to happen overnight, and most importantly, they are not likely to meaningfully affect those who live in long-term care through the pandemic. We need to take stock of both the physical and the psychological damage experienced by current residents that has come from both their being terrified of a deadly virus and their being kept away from their family and friends and their normal routines.
We know that the rate of prescribing antipsychotics increased exponentially over the pandemic here in B.C. We saw an increase of over 10% in the prescription of antipsychotics. That is the highest annual increase that we have ever seen since we've begun measuring this. Here in B.C., we've wiped out all the gains of the past 10 years to reduce their use. We did that in a single year.
There are also going to be emotional scars on family members that may never heal. The pain for some of these family members from forced separation from their loved ones cannot be overstated, and we really do need to reflect on how our actions were inconsistent with our words and devalued the importance of connections with our loved ones in the last years of our life.
Perhaps most important as we focus on the future of long-term care is that we cannot forget that most seniors not only wish to live at home for the entirety of their lives but they do, and I'm following up on much of what Rose-Mary has spoken to very eloquently. Less than 20% of people over 85 live in long-term care in Canada. The vast majority of frail seniors need to be supported in the community, and those living in the community were also profoundly impacted by the pandemic. The rate at which a person is likely to live alone multiplies by a factor of four once you reach your eighties. The important human connections are found less at home than they are at the library, the recreation centre, the seniors centre, the bank or the grocery store. All of these were closed for long periods of time during COVID, and many struggled before COVID to be able to provide these connections. Staying at home was much more likely to mean being alone for those over 65, and it has revealed for us the importance of these community connections going forward.
The virtual connections that kept many of us going proved elusive for some seniors for a variety of reasons. For some, it was too difficult to become tech savvy at this point in their lives during COVID, but for many it was a cost issue. What COVID has highlighted, and Rose-Mary spoke to this, is how many seniors need to use their community supports because they don't have the income they need. A third of our seniors in Canada are living on the guaranteed income supplement, the GIS. In British Columbia, that means less than a minimum wage job. They are really struggling. This pandemic revealed that the $1,000 a year it costs for the Internet is just too much, so many found themselves cut off because they couldn't go to those recreation centres and seniors centres and get the access that they needed.
As we look to the future, we need to make sure that a person who goes into long-term care only does so after all community supports have been exhausted. If we use British Columbia as an example, we have tremendous work to do. In B.C., seven out of 10 admissions to long-term care were people who had no community home supports 90 days prior to their admissions.
We have a long way to go to maximize the potential of our home support and home care program in Canada. This is in part because it's fragmented in our federated model of delivery and looks very different in provinces.
Cost is a big factor. In my province we are subsidizing people in long-term care to the tune of about $60,000 a year, yet we are giving nowhere near that amount of money to assist people to live independently. Many of the costs that some of us don't associate with health care when people are in their forties, fifties and sixties become health care costs for people in their eighties and nineties.
I'll just conclude by saying that balancing the heartache of the past year has been the brilliant display of care, compassion and concern that Canadians have shown for seniors throughout this pandemic. We put up a number on a website for people to call if they wanted to help seniors and it crashed as thousands of British Columbians came forward to help. We saw that across the country, so we're not indifferent to the needs of those who are in the last years of their life. It's quite the opposite.
We need to find a way to harness this tremendous goodwill of Canadians to support aging with dignity. Hearings such as the ones you're holding today are an important first step.
I thank you for inviting me. I look forward to your questions.
