Vision for Aging in Place.
Aging
in place refers to living where you lived for years; it also means growing
older without having to move from your community to a health care environment.
The
needs and abilities of older seniors change gradually over time. The kinds of
changes and when they occur vary from one person to the next.
Many
seniors can remain active and independent in their own homes; others need a
little help to continue living in the community.
Independence
and security can be tied to financial ability to allow people to remain in
their own homes or communities
The proportion of
seniors in N.B. increased by 15 per cent over the past five years, while the
number of children decreased by four per cent.
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Recommendations:
·
Coalition calls for the Federal Government
in cooperation with the provinces to implement a National Home Care Program
with standards and provisions of core services comparable from province to
province.
·
The program must be comprehensive, based
on non-profit or public delivery and be accessible to seniors.
·
To set the standards, the federal
government can use the examples of best practices and standard delivery and
fully funded programs.
·
The Federal programs for the Veterans
which assist veterans to remain in their own homes and communities with an
emphasis of independent living.
·
The best home care program can be found in
Manitoba. Established in its present form in September 1974, it is the oldest
comprehensive, province-wide, universal homes care program in Canada.
·
A key element in developing this program
is to set national training standards for caregivers and minimum hours of care given
to type of individuals.
·
Home support workers and home care go hand
in hand where programs should include professional services such as nursing,
occupational therapy and social work; personal care services to assist in the
activities in daily activities.
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New Brunswick
Recommendations:
Ø The Coalition calls upon the provincial government to incorporate home
support workers under the same jurisdiction as the extra-mural program.
Ø The wages of home support workers should be improved with high standards
of training, ongoing skills and career development.
References