Home care lacking in Canada

Canadians are known to brag about our healthcare system compared to many other countries. It leads the way in terms of access for its citizens. But it’s not perfect, and a new study from Statistics Canada shows nearly a third of those who need home care aren’t getting it.

Normal every day chores like cleaning the washroom are more tedious than strenuous for most, but for Laurie Florek who is dealing with major health issues, it can sometimes seem like a monumental task. She’s now using home care to help out: “Gives me more energy, and energy to do some of the things that I want to do whether it’s knitting or reading, or cooking. I love to cook sometimes.”

Florek is one of the lucky ones. According to a new Stats Can study, close to 800-thousand Canadians say their needs for care in the home are only partly met or not met at all. Private home care owner Jeremy Grant says the main issue is lack of education: “There is only so much government funded care to go around and with the aging population. It’s going to get tighter and tighter. And I think the biggest problem is that — especially here in Canada — we’re not aware of a private pay option, and how that fits in.”

Laurie Florek: “The trouble is that if i hadn’t heard about it from my friend, no one seems to be aware of these services that are available to us.”

Results from the study also show that those with unmet home care needs are generally younger. But Mary Siegner from the Community Care Access Centre says there are still numerous options for people of all ages: “Across our region alone last year, the Community Care Access Centre provided services to more than half of those aged 85 and over. But we serve people across a range of ages with a range of needs. So we’re available to help people look at options they wish to explore and help them access that and start that journey wherever that might be.”

Florek agrees there needs to be more awareness for the option of home care. While home care is not covered under the Health Act, she says it’s not as costly as people believe: “Fixed income, so I thought it was going to be too expensive. But truly, it’s helped me out so much that if I had to sell and move into a retirement home that would cost me thousands of dollars more a month.”

Here in Hamilton there are 19-hundred community supports and services for people and across the broader region, four thousand. And it’s as easy as going online and typing in your postal code to find out what’s nearest to you.

Two online options are Community Care Access Centre and The Health Line.