Evidence of meeting #38 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 community.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Associate Professor, McMaster University, As an Individual
Yes. Health care and the health situation is a very common topic. It's the most prevalent topic in the linguistic analysis that we're conducting.
What we did not expect was how much health care outside of COVID-19 was being talked about. Delays, postponed surgeries and postponed care are very much at the forefront of seniors' minds.
Conservative
Corey Tochor Conservative Saskatoon—University, SK
I'm very concerned about the health care system, because we know that a huge backlog of care needs to be provided. The provinces will be stretched to the limit once we're on the back end and we finally get enough second doses out there. There will be immense pressure on the health care sector.
Thank you again for the work you do.
Liberal
Liberal
Han Dong Liberal Don Valley North, ON
Thank you very much, Chair.
I want to thank the witnesses for coming to the committee today.
Dr. Dupuis-Blanchard, I have a quick follow-up on MP Tochor's question with regard to long-term care. After the release of the report by our military on project Laser, what kind of response or feedback did you receive from the NSC?
Professor, National Seniors Council
I can certainly share reactions from the members. Of course, we were quite concerned. It certainly fed into the report we were preparing at that time on COVID and older adults. I can't say that we were fully surprised. I think many of us who have been in the sector of aging and long-term care for a while knew that conditions were deteriorating even before COVID. I think COVID highlighted some situations that were there and probably worsened other situations.
We remain concerned. We're talking about quality of life here, no matter where seniors live, be it in the community or in long-term care. When we see those [Technical difficulty—Editor] really fuelled some of our recommendations and the advice that we provided. That will be made public very soon.
So yes, definitely.
Liberal
Han Dong Liberal Don Valley North, ON
Did any recommendation on what the federal government can do going forward stand out for you?
Professor, National Seniors Council
We always come back to the long-term care standards, to not only developing them but also making sure that they're able to be implemented. Make the conditions correct that they are able to be implemented. We know that it's an FPT matter and it's at different levels, but we definitely need to find a way to be able to develop long-term care standards and also implement them, which will be the most important part.
Liberal
Han Dong Liberal Don Valley North, ON
Thank you.
Professor Kuperman, do you have any comments or suggestions on this?
Associate Professor, McMaster University, As an Individual
Unfortunately, I'm not familiar with that report.
Liberal
Han Dong Liberal Don Valley North, ON
I want to talk about something that you are familiar with.
You mentioned that we know for a fact that seniors feel happier when they're aging at home with their family, community and neighbours. Can you tell us a little bit about what social isolation does to a senior's physical health?
Associate Professor, McMaster University, As an Individual
Yes. At some level, social isolation gives fewer reasons for a person to move. It's all about mobility. My work is mostly about social mobility and communication. This is about the drive to exercise, the drive to go out, to leave the bed, which is undermined if a person is isolated. They have fewer reasons to move in order to stay healthy.
Liberal
Han Dong Liberal Don Valley North, ON
I have to share with you that in my family line, a few people at the end of of their lives were patients of dementia. Is there a direct or indirect link between social isolation and dementia?
Associate Professor, McMaster University, As an Individual
What helps fight dementia is exercising the mind and the body. On the mind side, the fewer chances there are to communicate, to do intellectual work and to do cognitive training, the faster the dementia progresses. On the physical level, it's very similar too.
Liberal
Han Dong Liberal Don Valley North, ON
Dr. Dupuis-Blanchard, you talked about the new horizons program. We've seen $25,000 awarded to organizations like the National Resource Center on LGBT Aging, Diversity 101 and Alzheimer Society of Prince Edward Island. The seniors who identify as a member of the LGBTQ2+ community faced different additional challenges during the pandemic. Do you have any views on what else the government can do to support them?
Liberal
Professor, National Seniors Council
Yes.
Maybe not precisely, but we certainly are aware that they are a group of seniors who are more at risk of social isolation, especially with COVID. Seniors who identify as LGBTQ often say that they go back in the closet when they reach a certain age. They feel that it's not as accepted. I think there's work to do around that.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Sean Casey
Thank you, Mr. Dong.
Ms. Chabot, you have the floor for two and a half minutes.
Bloc
Louise Chabot Bloc Thérèse-De Blainville, QC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Ms. Dupuis‑Blanchard, a Coalition pour la dignité des aînés representative who met with us on Tuesday spoke about a possible solution for seniors. We know that seniors want to stay in their homes longer. This was true even before the pandemic. He told us that one way for the federal government to help directly would be to provide additional support to adapt homes or living quarters so that people can live more independently and remain in their homes.
Do you think that this would be a good solution?
Professor, National Seniors Council
Yes, certainly. I often see in my personal work on home support that all aspects of housing are very important.
Bloc
Louise Chabot Bloc Thérèse-De Blainville, QC
Quebec has passed legislation on the abuse of seniors and vulnerable adults. I had the pleasure of participating in the parliamentary commission on this issue. This legislation is quite [Technical difficulty—Editor]. I don't know whether this exists in the other provinces.
How can the federal government address these issues?
Professor, National Seniors Council
These are often issues involving the law and crime. The authorities often tell us that the law doesn't protect them when they want to move forward with certain complaints received. I think that there could be a legislative review in this area.
Bloc
Louise Chabot Bloc Thérèse-De Blainville, QC
Do you think that the federal government could improve or strengthen some current programs, rather than creating new ones?
Professor, National Seniors Council
Yes, certainly. You're making an important point. The issue of abuse is addressed in various federal programs. I think that it's a matter of identifying them and combining them in order to make a range of support measures available.
Bloc
Louise Chabot Bloc Thérèse-De Blainville, QC
Our committee's work seeks to paint a picture of the situation of seniors and vulnerable people. We want to know how they fared during the crisis. However, we're also thinking a great deal about the recovery.
In terms of isolation, we're hoping that the lifting of the lockdown and the vaccinations will help restore some normalcy. We're trying to determine how things look for the future and how we can directly help seniors navigate through life.