With an aging population in Labrador West, there’s a call for better support services for seniors.
Members of the community turned out to a public consultation on long-term care and community support services with Keith Hutchings, Parliamentary Secretary to Jerome Kennedy, Minister of Health and Community Services, held at the Two Seasons Inn in Labrador City, Aug. 19.
The government will review ideas expressed to develop a long-term strategy, explained Hutchings, to be carried out over the next two years.
At the meeting, he noted, residents expressed a need for personal care homes and more home support, as well as assistance with mental health.
Home care
“I think today the message was that seniors would like to be taken care of in their home,” he said. “[and] that services and provisions should be provided so they could stay in their home and
there would be supports to have physical activities and to develop mental capacities. That goes toward prevention medicine – we keep people active, we keep them involved, therefore they’re not required to go into long-term care facilities and we can keep them in their homes. That’s a part of our wellness program and where we want to go.”
“In this region there’s concerns with access to personal care homes,” he added. “Certainly, there are challenges to home support and finding people to provide that service either for seniors or those with disabilities.”
Seniors complex
Joan Stamp, leader of the Twin Cities Seniors Group, said that the councils are looking after many seniors and the group looks to keep them active by providing socials and different functions, but if there was a seniors complex, many more would come and stay.
Changing demographics
Peter Reccord, Labrador City councillor, noted changes in demographics with seniors having more reasons to stay in the community where their children are securing careers.
Whereas seniors used to leave the community after they retired, added Karen Oldford, Labrador City deputy mayor, they stay because of family and since many of them have come to consider the community their home.
She explained the community had problems attracting developers to construct a long-term care facility since they’re usually asking for a commitment to fill 50-bed units and they can’t compete with salaries offered to labourers from other businesses in the community.
She said it’s an improvement that the new hospital will increase long-term care beds from six to 14, but believes it’s ideal to keep people at home and there’s a need for personal care homes.
Melissa Coish, a physiotherapist at Captain William Jackman Memorial Hospital, agreed seniors should be kept independent as possible and that’s why personal care homes would be a better option.
Respite workers
Another option would be to attract more respite workers, said Lisa Shaw, social worker with Labrador-Grenfell Health and volunteer with the Newfoundland and Labrador Association for Community Living. She said this can only be done by increasing labour standards.
Shaw complained respite workers have low wages at $11 per hour, few benefits, no Worker’s Compensation, no overtime, and nowhere to reside.
The unique case in Labrador West with the boom, she noted, is that most families work several
jobs to survive, so they need extra help with seniors and disabled, and have very little time to volunteer.
She pointed out there’s only one alternate care provider in the community and few foster parents.
“I think that’s something that will be looked at across the board in terms of the strategy moving forward because we’re hearing that in many regions regarding the availability of people,” noted Hutchings. “It varies from region to region – in some regions it’s not an issue finding people and, in others, it is.”
Boom paradox Noreen Careen, executive director of Labrador West Status of Women, said dynamics in Labrador West have changed completely with the boom, and you have an increasingly aging population with fewer support services offered to them.
Oldford noted, due to the boom, more and more seniors have been displaced out of housing.
It is ironic, said Gordon Parsons, Labrador City resident, that a house donated in the community to seniors would give one square foot per senior considering the aging population.
He suggested the old hospital could be used as a seniors centre and Hutchings agreed that it’s something the government would consider.
Mental health support
Eleanor Fowler, nurse site manager for Labrador-Grenfell Health, raised the issue on the lack of mental health support in Labrador West and nowhere for the mentally ill to go on a daily basis.
There is a definite need for reintegration, explained Careen, for the mentally ill to function and find meaningful work.
“People have expressed concerns with that and we’ll be looking at what can we do here or across the board in terms of mental health,” said Hutchings. “Minister Jerome Kennedy has been a big advocate of mental health and a number of initiatives have been started to deal with those issues. As we move forward, that will certainly be a priority.”
The next step
He’s completed about onehalf of the 20 planned consultations, and said that the ideas expressed will go to the government, which will see what it can do within its fiscal capacity.
He expects to wrap up the consultations mid-September in time for the budgetary process this fall
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