WHEREAS a significant capacity for maintaining the health and wellbeing of seniors exists at the municipal level through neighbourhood houses, seniors centres and community centres; AND WHEREAS limited funding for these services means they cannot meet the need for outreach programming to isolated seniors, information services on locally available social and health programs for seniors, social programming to keep seniors active and connected: THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the provincial government provide funding for enhanced seniors outreach and health prevention programs including information services, social networking, and age-appropriate exercise programs and to support better coordination among existing services.
Ministry of Health The Province is continuing to support a variety of programs and initiatives in communities across the province aimed at enhancing information and outreach to seniors and strengthening the ability of older British Columbians to remain healthy, active and connected in their communities. In February 2012, the Province released Improving Care for BC Seniors: An Action Plan Action Plan to address concerns expressed by seniors, their families and care providers about seniors care in BC. Under the Information theme in the Action Plan, several commitments were made to improve access to the information that seniors and their families need in order to make informed choices about care. These include: - The www.SeniorsBC.ca website September 2012 to improve access to information on home and community health care programs and other services, including information about facility inspection reports, care and support options, how to access health care services, eligibility criteria for publicly subsidized services, wait times, urgency criteria, patient charges, and hardship waivers; - Provided advance care planning information and tools in April 2012 to help older adults prepare for their future health care needs; - Provided information to assist seniors and their families to understand and live with dementia in October 2012, which included support from the Alzheimer Societys First Link program; and, - Updated the BC Seniors Guide in December 2012. The Guide a popular print publication includes information about government programs and services is available in web and print formats in English, French, Chinese and Punjabi, and will be distributed to seniors centres, libraries, ServiceBC offices and other community-level organizations throughout BC. The Action Plan also includes a commitment to consult with the public on the role of a new Seniors Advocate. The Ministry of Health MoH conducted an in-person consultation in nine communities from May to July 2012 and engaged with hundreds of seniors, caregivers and stakeholders to seek their input on the future role and function of the Seniors Advocate. MoH also held focus groups and consultations with seniors and stakeholders to support the development of a provincial elder abuse prevention, identification and response strategy that will be released in early 2013. Through these and other public consultation processes, government is hearing about the needs, concerns and priorities of seniors in all regions of the province. At the same time, the Province is supporting communities in exploring new and innovative ways of reaching out to seniors and promoting seniors independence and community participation. For example, as part of the Action Plan, the Province provided 15 million to the United Way of the Lower Mainland to expand non-medical home support services in up to 60 communities over the next 3 years. This new program, to be called Better at Home, builds on the Community Action for Seniors Independence pilot program. Through this pilot program, local agencies in five communities have received funding to provide a range of non-medical home support services such as housekeeping, transportation and yard work, to help seniors remain living in their own homes. Better at Home will build on this pilot program. Also, as part of the Action Plan, the Province provided 1.4 million to the BC Association of Community Response Networks to increase Community Response Networks activities in up to 100 locations throughout BC by 2015. Community Response Networks are local networks of service providers, agencies and volunteers that work to build the whole community capacity to address and prevent elder abuse, neglect and self-neglect. MoH collaborates with UBCM and other partners to encourage and support local governments to take action to make their communities more welcoming and accessible to people of all ages through its Age-friendly BC Initiative. This includes grants for local governments of up to 20,000 for age-friendly planning and projects. The funding was originally provided from UBCMs Seniors Housing and Support Initiative through a one-time 2 million grant from the Ministry of Community, Sport and Cultural Development to assist local governments to prepare for an aging population. MoH has augmented that amount to continue to support local governments with additional grants to UBCM of 500,000 in 2007; 1,050,000 in 2011; and 200,000 in 2012. Since 2007, a total of 117 local governments have been supported in age-friendly planning and implementation through grants from the UBCM Seniors Housing and Support Initiative program. Most recently, in December 2012, 27 local governments were notified that they will be awarded grants of up to 20,000 for age-friendly planning and projects in 2013. This will benefit 14 new communities that had not been funded under this program since 2007. In February 2012, MoH and UBCM awarded age-friendly planning and project grants to 52 local governments, which included an additional 22 communities that had not previously been supported. In the summer of 2012 nine local governments Duncan, Esquimalt, Metchosin, Saanich, Revelstoke, West Vancouver, Surrey, Sechelt, and White Rock received Age-friendly BC Recognition for their efforts to support older residents to remain healthy and active in the community. These communities have received an Age-friendly BC award poster and a 1,000 grant to create a legacy project or celebration. The Age-friendly Recognition program is administered by BC Healthy Communities. In June 2011, MoH provided a 3 million grant to the University of Victoria to design and promote innovations in technological supports for seniors to enhance their independence. The grant supports the Connect for Care project a partnership between CanAssist University of Victoria, Tyze Personal Networks and the PLAN Institute for Caring Citizenship to develop a fully accessible suite of online tools providing sustainable patient-centered care for frail elderly, adults with chronic conditions, and people with mild-moderate dementia in a variety of settings.