Background
On June 3rd, 2021, Canada 2020 convened policymakers, decision-makers and healthcare experts to discuss reforming and redesigning Canada’s seniors-care sector. Robust discussions occurred on how seniors care can be improved, and how we can protect and support older adults as we move beyond the pandemic. Learn more about our event here.
Highlights
- Policymakers, decision-makers and experts need to determine Canadians’ preferences for ageing in place, long-term care, and care needs.
- National standards should be created for long-term care to ensure transparency and accountability.
- We need to better value our seniors at a societal level. As it stands, our society is ageist and does not give seniors the respect they deserve, leading to a lack of respect and empowerment towards seniors’ care workers.
- Investment in elder care means investing in ourselves and our children, because we are all ageing. This investment must include more personalized and integrated care (ie. memory care).
Key Takeaways
- Canada has not been keeping up with the needs of an ageing population; government has not spent money well and there are unmet care needs, such as waitlists for nursing care beds.
- We need to engage with families, seniors, and patients, and include their voices in decision-making as options are often narrowed.
- Caregivers are a major point of focus. Investments should be made in education and training to create better opportunities for people to enter the sector, contribute, learn and develop new skills.
- To address the severe staffing shortage, improved recruitment and retention is vital. An option is to expand immigration pathways in certain countries in order to fill spaces.
- The seniors-care sector must be modernized. Fostering a person-centered approach to care will improve the quality of life for older adults.
- COVID-19 exposed severe weaknesses in Canada’s seniors-care sector. Canadians, all levels of government and organizations need to work together to do better for seniors, ensure better outcomes and save lives.
- Addressing seniors care policy cannot happen in isolation of the health care system as a whole, as changes to one aspect of the system will have ripple effects elsewhere.
Produced by Santis Health
