Human Resources Committee on June 3rd, 2021

[The Chair, Liberal, Sean Casey]

I call this meeting to order and welcome you to meeting number 38 of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities.

Today's meeting is taking place in a hybrid format, pursuant to the House order of January 25, 2021. The proceedings will be made available via the House of Commons website, which will always show the person speaking rather than the entirety of the committee.

Pursuant to Standing Order 108(2) and the motion adopted by the committee on Tuesday, February 2, 2021, the committee will continue its study on the impact of COVID-19 on seniors.

I'd like to welcome Dr. Suzanne Dupuis-Blanchard from the National Seniors Council.

Dr. Blanchard, interpretation is available at 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, and when you're not speaking, your mike should be on mute.

You'll probably see me from time to time holding up one finger. That's not because I have something to say; it's to signal that there's one minute left in the turn of the person who's asking you a question.

Thank you so much for being with us, Dr. Dupuis-Blanchard.

Without further ado, you have the floor for your opening remarks for a five full minutes, if you need them.

[Dr. Suzanne Dupuis-Blanchard, Professor, National Seniors Council]

Thank you Mr. Chair, and thank you to the members of the committee for your interest in the impact of COVID-19 on older adults.

On behalf of the members of the National Seniors Council, I want to provide our sincerest condolences to Canadians who have lost a parent or loved one during this pandemic, and our thoughts go out to family members who have been separated from their relatives in long-term care facilities for the past 13 or 14 months.

In addition to my role as chairperson of the National Seniors Council, I am a registered nurse, for the past 30 years, with experience in aging and community health, currently involved in vaccination efforts against COVID-19; a professor at the school of nursing at l'Université de Moncton, where I also hold a research chair in population aging from the Consortium national de formation en santé, studying aging in place and director of the centre on aging.

The National Seniors Council was created in 2007 to advise the Government of Canada, through the Minister of Seniors and the Minister of Health, on matters related to health, well-being and quality of life of older adults. The council currently has 11 members, including me, who come from a wide variety of sectors related to aging, including academia, social and health sectors, community and front-line organizations and the private sector. In developing its advice to ministers, the council undertakes a range of activities, including commissioning research, consulting with older adults and stakeholders across the country and convening expert panels and round tables.

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in March 2020, the council was in the process of implementing a three-year work plan covering 2018 to 2021. The work plan had four main priorities: first, identifying measures to reduce crimes and harms against seniors; second, examining potential objectives and elements of a national seniors strategy; third, developing an age-friendly healthy aging policy lens to potentially examine federal policy and initiatives; fourth, identifying measures to counteract ageism by shifting the public discourse on aging.

In 2019, in the context of a general public meeting and expert roundtable in Winnipeg, we addressed the priority of action to reduce crimes targeting seniors and financial harm to seniors. In addition, we released the “What We Heard” report, which is available on our website. However, I would like to make a few points that remain relevant to COVID‑19.

The council found that financial crimes and harms against seniors are perpetrated by different actors and assume a variety of forms, from romance scams to aggressive door-to-door sales. Of importance is that social isolation can be a key risk factor, as scammers often prey upon the loneliness of older adults who are isolated and in need of basic human contact. Poverty and economic insecurity can also make older adults more susceptible to certain scams.

You can understand that with social isolation having increased as a result of the pandemic, new frauds are being perpetrated against older adults. These include unsolicited calls claiming to be from a private company or from health care providers offering home self-testing kits or even vaccination for an upfront fee; and private companies selling fraudulent products that claim to treat or prevent COVID-19.

When the pandemic began, the council quickly shifted its priorities to monitoring the pandemic situation of older adults. We immediately recognized that the pandemic was having, and was going to have, a disproportionate impact on older adults, and that studies were appearing to take stock of the situation from various perspectives, especially in relation to long-term care, but to a somewhat lesser extent, notions such as social isolation and older adults residing outside of long-term care facilities.

The council determined that to add value, it would provide high-level advice to ministers by reviewing research findings and the viewpoints of older adults and stakeholders, and by identifying values and principles to support the health and well-being of older adults. In response, and prior to the beginning of the second wave, the council prepared a report for ministers based on a review of over 40 reports regarding older adults and the pandemic. The report, entitled “Seniors Well-Being in Canada: Building on Lessons Learned from the Pandemic”, will soon be added to the council's website. If members of the committee would like to receive a copy, I'd certainly be happy to share it after this meeting.

The report suggests 22 actions, supported by conclusive data, as they relate to five main themes. Each action is further broken down into short, medium and long-term actions. Our advice to ministers has taken into account such fundamental elements as healthy aging and quality of life for seniors, the full continuum of care from home to nursing home, the negative impact of COVID‑19, and respect for federal, provincial and territorial jurisdictions.

Since then, the council has continued working on the impacts of the pandemic on older adults, and has recently submitted advice to the ministers regarding the national long-term care standards, as these were included in the ministers' revised mandate letters and budget 2021. We continue to monitor the research that is being published related to the pandemic and older adults, and we will continue advising the ministers on this important issue. We are also in early discussions related to our next work plan.

Thank you for the opportunity to be here with you. I certainly look forward to our discussion.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sean Casey]

Thank you very much, Dr. Dupuis-Blanchard.

We will now begin with rounds of questions, starting with the Conservatives.

Mr. Vis, please go ahead for six minutes.

[Brad Vis, Conservative, Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon, BC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Ms. Dupuis-Blanchard, for being here today.

What really got me going when you first started speaking was the issue of phone scammers in conjunction with social isolation during the pandemic. My grandmother—my oma—who's 93, lives on her own and made a really good friend in Jamaica who talked to her about Jesus Christ and wanted her bank information. My oma was about to give it to him, had it not been for a family member who came into the house when the man called. They had numerous conversations over the phone. I will note that my oma has day-to-day care in her house through her grandchildren and children.

What can we do at the federal level to try to temper phone scamming? It is prevalent and almost ubiquitous, and it's only getting worse. Do you have any recommendations about how we can combat financial crimes that are taking place over the telephone?

[Dr. Suzanne Dupuis-Blanchard]

Thank you for that important question.

It is something that we looked at when we did our consultation in Winnipeg. We had national representation there from experts and whatnot. A lot of the recommendations that came forth, which would be related to what you just shared, are on creating a campaign to create awareness. We all think that people know about these scams, but I'm sure that if we think back, we ourselves, or others, have been involved in clicking on something or receiving a call and providing information that we probably shouldn't have.

We definitely need to create that awareness about being careful. Those efforts need to continue. Actually, the federal government has wonderful resources already available, but a lot of people don't know about them.

I have to say, even during that meeting of experts [Technical difficulty—Editor] we presented to the experts there some of the federal resources, and a lot of them were not even aware that those existed. One of those is “The Little Black Book of Scams”. It's been wonderfully done. It's been widely accepted by the people who do know about it, but we certainly have to continue facilitating or creating that awareness. Also, people do not know how to report it.

[Brad Vis, Conservative, Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon, BC]

Thank you. That's very, very helpful. We need to do a better job of promoting existing resources that are available.

You mentioned, as well, and we heard in our last panel on Tuesday, especially from the seniors advocate from the province of British Columbia, where I reside, that social isolation has led to even worse mental health outcomes for seniors during the pandemic.

Could you talk briefly about the role that civil society can play, and more importantly, family and friends? What can the federal government do to facilitate more interactions with seniors, maybe either through funding community groups or empowering people in the community who want to play a role helping seniors but don't know how to do it?

[Dr. Suzanne Dupuis-Blanchard]

Thank you again for another important topic, that of social isolation.

The council, previous to my involvement, also looked at social isolation. There's work on our website that dates from 2017. There were some consultations done previous to that report as well.

Some of the recommendations that the council made to the ministers at that time were, again, to increase public awareness about the importance of, but also the consequences of social isolation. It also went further, to say that we need to improve access to information on the programs and the services that are available in the local community. Some services are available, and activities, but a lot of seniors don't know about them. Until you're in a position to seek those services or activities to get you out of the house, you don't really pay attention to it. So we definitely have to facilitate that.

We all have a role to play in addressing social isolation. For me, that's where age-friendly communities come into play, as well as initiatives like the new horizons for seniors program, which I know you all know about. That plays an important role in bringing community programs and initiatives to seniors who are isolated as well.

[Brad Vis, Conservative, Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon, BC]

Thank you.

Mr. Chair, how much time do I have left?

[The Chair, Liberal, Sean Casey]

You have just under a minute.

[Brad Vis, Conservative, Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon, BC]

Okay, I'm good. That was a great round.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sean Casey]

Thank you very much, Mr. Vis.

Next we have Mr. Turnbull, please, for six minutes.

[Ryan Turnbull, Liberal, Whitby, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thanks to the witness, Ms. Dupuis-Blanchard.

It's great to have you here. Thanks for your testimony.

I want to go back to what Mr. Vis was talking about in relation to social isolation and loneliness. Certainly it's a concern. I am fully aware in my community of constituents in long-term care, but also seniors who are isolated at home for long periods of time. From your perspective, what are the health impacts that seniors have been experiencing as a result of this?

As an example, my mother has vascular dementia and has been isolated for almost 15 months in long-term care and I've seen a very significant decline in her overall physical health.

Could you comment on the health impacts of that?

[Dr. Suzanne Dupuis-Blanchard]

There are definitely some important health impacts of social isolation, be it in long-term care, like what you just shared, or for people in the community. I've seen it myself in my own projects on aging in place and the impact that social isolation is having on things like mobility, because people are not moving around as much as they used to. That really has an impact even on muscle loss and risk of falls.

There is an impact mentally as well. I'm thinking about dementia. I'm thinking mostly about those who would be maybe in the early stages of dementia and who haven't seen their extended families and whatnot. There's certainly going to be an impact when we start opening up again and when family members interact with older adults who have been isolated and who may have progressed in their loss of mobility or cognition.

These are important impacts on life and on trying to keep seniors independent as well. That's what it gets at. We want to make sure seniors remain as independent as possible in terms of mobility, meal preparation and socialization.

Also, socialization is so important. When we look at social isolation, the latest research talks about how it's almost like chain-smoking. The impact on a person's body is the same as smoking about 15 cigarettes a day. If we think about that in the context of COVID, then with everything else and the precautions and the stress of it, it certainly is something seniors are living now.

The effects on mental health, as well, will certainly have to be addressed as we think about post-pandemic times.

[Ryan Turnbull, Liberal, Whitby, ON]

Thank you for those comments. They're really appreciated.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sean Casey]

Mr. Turnbull, we now have Dr. Kuperman with us. I'm going to suggest that we suspend to do a sound check for him and then allow him to deliver his opening remarks. You are about halfway through your turn. If all goes well and Dr. Kuperman is ready to go, then you'll have three minutes when we come back.

We'll suspend while we do the sound check.

Dr. Kuperman, you might have missed some of the preamble. I'll give you the condensed version.

Interpretation is available on the bottom of your screen. You have the choice of floor, English or French. Please close your microphone when you're not speaking, and speak slowly and clearly for the benefit of the interpreters. That's the Reader's Digest version.

Now we're going to resume with questions, beginning with Mr. Turnbull for three minutes.

Mr. Turnbull, you have the floor.

[Ryan Turnbull, Liberal, Whitby, ON]

Thank you.

I'll go to Mr. Kuperman. Thank you for being here. I suppose you probably caught the tail end—

[The Chair, Liberal, Sean Casey]

Excuse me, Mr. Turnbull. I missed one very important step.

Dr. Kuperman has undoubtedly been working for days and days on his opening remarks, and I gave such a condensed version that I forgot to give him the floor.

Dr. Kuperman, you have five minutes for your opening remarks, and then Mr. Turnbull is going to ask some very interesting questions. You have the floor.

[Dr. Victor Kuperman, Associate Professor, McMaster University, As an Individual]

Thank you so much, Chair Casey. I appreciate being here, and I thank you for your patience.

I'm an associate professor at the Department of Linguistics and Languages at McMaster University, and I am a member of the McMaster Institute for Research on Aging. I study two topics: the psychological and emotional well-being of seniors and the public discourse regarding seniors during the COVID-19 pandemic. I will touch upon both topics today.

I use language as my data: media and social media, stories written by seniors, and messaging by federal and provincial authorities. The present testimony is based on my own work and existing international research.

Our studies of stories written by older adults show that the psychological fallout of COVID-19 on Canadian seniors has been profound. Linguistic analysis of the choice of words and topics pointed to signs of profound psychological distress among seniors. We saw an increasing use of language markers of pessimism, anxiety, fear and uncertainty. This evidence maps well onto the Canadian statistics of deteriorating mental health.

We set up a longitudinal study that uncovered the dynamics of the emotional toll that the pandemic took. Psychological well-being of seniors did not decline immediately after the global lockdown in March 2020. Rather, seniors showed emotional resilience to stress, which set off this decline by roughly four months, yet since August 2020 and up until now, the seniors have remained at the same deteriorated emotional state—the “new normal”. If the lockdown continues, our data predict that this state will worsen, leading to further loss of health and lives. Our analyses further confirmed robust findings that loneliness, social isolation and pre-pandemic health issues are the key determinants of psychological vulnerability.

What brings relief to seniors? Many participants in our studies mentioned the success of intergenerational online projects involving storytelling and story-sharing, a creative and therapeutically relevant form of communication, yet these projects leave out those seniors that may need them the most, that is, the ones without access or knowledge to engage in online communication. Unless caretakers provide training in the use of online tools of social engagement to such individuals, the digital divide will grow and social isolation exacerbate.

Given available data, I recommend to support further development of social engagement programs, especially those across generations; provide reliable Internet infrastructure and access to technology to all seniors; and, support education in digital literacy for seniors with the help of trained caretakers.

Another topic that looms large in my current research and the international research is the rise of ageism in the public discourse on the pandemic. This discriminatory sentiment is not new, but it has now been fuelled by the greater vulnerability that seniors show to COVID-19. Ageism surfaces in media as an undifferentiated portrayal of all seniors as frail, helpless or burdensome. This negative perspective can even find support in social policies if they are formulated in terms of age as a number, rather than talking about individuals and their situation. In its most radical form, ageism surfaces as blatant disregard for seniors’ lives. It is illustrated in social networks by an offensive, insulting label: #BoomerRemover.

Ageism is not a prevalent sentiment in social media, but it is persistent, so it strengthens negative stereotyping against seniors in all age groups. It has been widely reported to bias triaging decisions in health care delivery against seniors, as well as employment decisions. Seniors themselves absorb this negative public discourse as well. It adds to their daily stress, harms their cognitive functioning and undermines their self-esteem.

With these findings in mind, I recommend to support educational and public awareness programs about aging and its physiological, cognitive and emotional components. In official communication, including policies and public health messaging, I recommend avoiding an emphasis on age as a critical group variable. Instead, public messaging should target socio-economic or health-related characteristics of individuals.

Thank you for your attention. I'm looking forward to further discussion.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sean Casey]

Thank you, Dr. Kuperman.

Without further ado, for the remainder of his six-minute round, we have Mr. Turnbull.

I'll do my best not to interrupt you over the next three minutes, Mr. Turnbull. You have the floor.

[Ryan Turnbull, Liberal, Whitby, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

That was absolutely perfect, because the question I was going to ask you was basically answered in your opening remarks. Thank you for that. I have other questions that follow up on your opening remarks, so perhaps I'll get to dive a little further into the topic as a result.

You mentioned intergenerational programming as potentially a way to reduce social isolation and loneliness among seniors. You also talked about digital literacy and the divide that is perhaps there. I think we're all present to that. I know the new horizons for seniors program has at times, at least in my riding, focused on some of the programs that can be delivered in a virtual format during the pandemic.

Mr. Kuperman, could you expand on how we address digital literacy when dealing with seniors?

[Dr. Victor Kuperman]

We're talking about [Technical difficulty—Editor] that is the most detached from technology, and it's a sizable proportion. I think the estimate is that only about 75% of seniors age 65 and up have access to Internet in North America. This is a question of infrastructure and providing access, but it is also a question of who will teach them to use the technology and the tools. Indeed, great strides have already been made with the help of federal and provincial funding. I know several programs that do that. The one closest to me geographically is Cyber-Seniors.

I think it is through the support of caretakers, those who have physical access to seniors and can bring the technology and knowledge to them, that this will perhaps succeed the most.

[Ryan Turnbull, Liberal, Whitby, ON]

Coming out of the pandemic, assuming we are, which I think we're all very hopeful for at this moment.... Certainly with vaccinations increasing across the country and case numbers going down in most areas of the country, I think perhaps we can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

There is this sort of shadow pandemic of mental, physiological and emotional health and cognitive functioning, which you spoke to, within the seniors population, and I wonder how we begin to address that as we move forward. Do you have broad suggestions for us on what we can do to ensure that seniors' health, both physical and emotional, doesn't decline further?

[The Chair, Liberal, Sean Casey]

Be as brief as you can, please.

[Dr. Victor Kuperman]

Briefly, the public awareness programs and the educational programs that I mentioned would be a very good partial solution. They need to be directed at the seniors and the population at large to make sure that awareness is there and that ageism does not proliferate.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sean Casey]

Thank you, Mr. Turnbull.

Ms. Chabot, you have the floor for six minutes.