NDP: Pay to Keep Seniors at Home

By David Jackson, Chronicle Herald 

  February 19, 2008

Canada

The NDP is calling on the MacDonald government to spend almost $6 million on new and better services for senior citizens this year.

But Health Minister Chris d’Entremont said those services are already available or included in the government’s own continuing-care strategy.

Official Opposition Leader Darrell Dexter said Monday that the measures, such as expanding an allowance program to pay for caregivers, would help seniors stay in their homes longer and free up hospital beds now occupied by people waiting for nursing home beds.

Mr. Dexter pointed out that it’s much cheaper to care for a senior at home or in a nursing home bed than in hospital.

"There are millions we are now misspending on the wrong type of care that could be invested in the right types of care for seniors — care that is more flexible, compassionate and closer to home," Mr. Dexter told a news conference at Spencer House seniors centre in Halifax.

There are about 1,400 Nova Scotians waiting for a nursing home bed, while 30 per cent or more of hospital beds may be occupied by people who need care in a different setting.

Anne Elliott-Tomlinson, 71, said she’s not too worried about how the system looks now, but she knows many people who are.

"A patient goes to the hospital for six months, maybe a year in the hospital here at the (Victoria General) before a nursing home (bed) is ready. I mean, that is ridiculous in a province like Nova Scotia," said Ms. Elliott-Tomlinson, who was at Spencer House.

Mr. Dexter proposed a self-managed care allowance of $500 a month so seniors could pay a caregiver, whether a professional or family member. The senior would have to meet a means test to qualify, Mr. Dexter said.

Another proposal is a $750-a-month allowance for assisted living — accommodations where a senior can get housekeeping and light nursing services.

He also suggested an assistance program for frail seniors that would target people at risk of requiring nursing home admission.

It would involve a team of health professionals helping the person to stay healthy and out of the nursing home.

Other elements of the NDP plan include more money for adapting homes if a person needs a main-floor bedroom or ramp to get in the home, an in-hospital rehabilitation program, and short-stay beds in new nursing homes for seniors recovering from an injury or sickness.

"Our plan would give seniors and their families choices — and would fill the current gap between too little home care and too much hospital care," Mr. Dexter said.

The NDP suggests the programs could start in the fall, with an estimated cost of $5.7 million for the remainder of the fiscal year that would end March 31, 2009.

Mr. d’Entremont said he saw nothing new in the NDP proposal.

"They’re really underlining and regurgitating what we’ve already talked about in our continuing-care strategy," the minister said. "I really don’t know where they’re coming from with this one."

Mr. d’Entremont said he thinks politics was behind Mr. Dexter’s news conference.

"I think they’re losing ground on health care because the things that we’ve been doing have been making a difference," he said.

The province is planning to have more than 800 new nursing home beds open by 2010.

As for more money in the 2008-09 fiscal year, Finance Minister Michael Baker said just last week that money is extremely tight, and Premier Rodney MacDonald warned less than two weeks ago that the province won’t be able to cater to wish lists.

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