Ontario Helping More Seniors Live At Home Longer

Ontario is moving forward with the next step in developing its Seniors Care Strategy, which will help seniors stay healthy and live at home longer.

PHOTO CREDIT - Wikepedia.com

Toronto - May 24, 2012 - Ontario is moving forward with the next step in developing its Seniors Care Strategy, which will help seniors stay healthy and live at home longer.

The strategy will include:

-Expansion of doctor’s house calls
-Increase in access to home care for seniors in need
-Establishing care co-ordinators to work with health care providers so seniors receive the right care, particularly as they recover from a hospital stay
-Allowing seniors to adapt their home to meet their needs as they age with the assistance of the Healthy Homes Renovation Tax Credit
-Helping seniors stay healthy by eating well and exercising regularly so they can manage their own care and stay mobile
Dr. Samir Sinha will lead the development and implementation of the Seniors Care Strategy. This summer, Dr. Sinha will consult broadly on how to support seniors at home and reduce hospital readmissions and pressure on long-term care homes.

In fall 2012, Dr. Sinha will provide recommendations to the Minister of Health and Long-Term Care on how to help more seniors to live independently at home and in their community, and will work with the health care sector to implement the strategy, once approved.

Ensuring that seniors have access to the right care, at the right time and in the right place is part of the McGuinty government's Action Plan for Health Care.

QUOTES

“The Seniors Care Strategy will help our seniors get the right care, at the right time and in the right place - which for many seniors is at home, where they want to be. Ontario will benefit greatly from Dr. Sinha’s advice on how to develop and implement this strategy.”
-Deb Matthews, Minister of Health and Long-Term Care

“Throughout my career, I have been dedicated to improving health outcomes and the quality of life of our seniors. I look forward to working with the health care sector to develop and implement a Seniors Strategy so that our health care system is readily able to deliver and promote better care and health outcomes for our seniors.”
-Dr. Samir Sinha, Expert Lead, Seniors Care Strategy

QUICK FACTS

-The government will help 90,000 more seniors to receive care at home and fund an additional three million Personal Support Worker hours over the next three years.
-As announced in the 2012 Budget, the government will increase funding for community and home care services by an average of four per cent over the next three years.
-Older adults make up 14 per cent of Ontario’s population and account for nearly half of current health care spending in the province.