Thank you, Patrick.
Good morning, everyone. My name is Hai. I'm an associate professor with the faculty of social work at the University of Manitoba. I'm also a research affiliate at the Centre on Aging.
As the committee members are aware, the provinces and territories have various acts and legislation to protect residents' safety and rights while living in a communal setting. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought needed attention to how we care for Canada's seniors. Although the crisis in long-term care is dire, the reality is that most older adults live in communities. This means that both contexts must be robustly addressed. There are trends of under-reporting, unawareness and fear that make it challenging for older adults to receive the justice and support they require.
There are many excellent existing programs and initiatives doing vital work, such as local elder abuse networks. However, these networks receive little to no funding. We know that a coordinated approach requires sustained infrastructure.
Finally, the current patchwork of laws, regulations and definitions is a significant problem. The absence of synchronized and comprehensive efforts, stable definitions and robust tracking and reporting means Canada will not tackle this issue. Without a coordinated approach to ensure economic and social well-being, older adults in Canada will continue to experience poverty, homelessness and social isolation. Any additional efforts to combat elder abuse will not be successful if these underlying factors are not addressed.
Consequently, CASW recommends the federal government first and foremost develop a funded, multi-year national elder abuse strategy. This overarching strategy must complement and support current federal and provincial efforts and have structural, formal links to work in collaboration with the national home care strategy, and poverty reduction and housing strategies. Additional recommendations can be found in our brief submitted to the committee.
From the social work perspective—