On Monday, February 25th a small but appreciative audience attended a presentation on seniors care in our community. The first speaker was Lynn Pelly, Executive Director of Princeton Community Services Society. She gave a comprehensive report on the wide range of services provided by her organization. She explained that many of these services are under contract with the Interior Health Authority and are administered by a paid staff, supported by many volunteers. It was made clear that these important services are available as a result of government funding and that recent cutbacks have limited the scope of several services that the Society offers.

The second speaker was Gloria Levi, seniors advocate and coordinator of Integrated Care Advocacy. As Gloria explained, “integrated care” refers to the need to provide comprehensive medical and non-medical home health care that considers every aspect of a person’s well being. She pointed out that integrated care is not only what seniors want, it is also the most effective and cost efficient way to provide care; “it’s the best way to get a bang for your health care buck.”
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Do you think this ‘new’ seniors’ advocate will be helpful, or do you think it is just window dressing. www.facebook.com/notes/news-british-columbia/seniors-advocate-position-weakened-without-independence/536520313046024

Also: www.thinkhealthbc.ca/topics/223

We will let our readers decide for themselves, but I am curious to hear if Gloria Levi has anything to say about this on Monday February 25.

SOHC received the following information from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. This will give Princeton and Area residents a say in what they want their health care tax dollars to be spent on. Deadline is February 18.

This year, as part of CCPA’s Alternative Federal Budget project, we’re asking how innovative health care funds should be distributed in your community. We’ve created a participatory health innovation fund so that you can show us what kind of health infrastructure would reflect and serve the priorities of your community.

Visit http://www.policyalternatives.ca/AFB_Community_Health_Innovation.htm and submit your answer by Monday, February 18th. The results of this consultation will be included in the 2013 Alternative Federal Budget.

           From the Canadian Federation of Medical Students 

OTTAWA, Feb. 4, 2013 – The Canadian Federation of Medical Students (CFMS) is bringing tomorrow’s physicians to Parliament Hill for its annual Lobby Day.

Medical students from Vancouver to St. John’s will meet with Members of Parliament and Senators to discuss strategies to ensure that all Canadians have access to health care wherever they live. The CFMS believes that all Canadians – regardless of location – deserve adequate, quality care. According to 2004 Health Canada data, the doctor-to-population ratio in rural Canada will grow to over 1:1,800 by the turn of the next decade. This is compared to a ratio of about 1:500 for Canada as a whole. Moreover, the federal government does not currently have a system to predict how the number and type of physicians that will be required in the future to serve the diverse needs of Canadians. As such, provinces and regions continue to struggle with the appropriate distribution of physician location and specialty, especially in rural and remote areas.

The CFMS applauds the federal government for announcing that it will forgive a portion of Canada Student Loans for new family physicians working in rural and remote communities. However, ……….

For the full article, please go to:

http://www.cfms.org/attachments/article/113/CFMS%20Press%20Release%20-%20Lobby%20Day%202013%20EN.pdf

There is a rapidly changing demography of Canadians over the age of 65. In 1971, the Canadian seniors were 7.1% of the population. In 2006, they were 13.1% of the population. It is estimated that by the year 2031, they will be 23.4% of the population. Between the years 1996 and 2006, the number of people over the age of 100 has increased 50%. In 2011, the first baby boomers retired.

According to the report of the Special Senate Committee on Aging 2006, the rapid rise in health care costs are NOT mainly due to this dramatic population increase but can be attributed mainly due to rise in medications, technical advances, improved surgical techniques, and increased physician and patient requests for diagnostic testing.

There is a need for an integrated system delivering a seamless continuum of care so that people will be able to age in the place of their choice – best done on a provincial level, such as a health authority.

To read the full article, please go to:

http://www.bcrta.ca/news-items/integrated%20care.pdf

Gloria Levi will visit Princeton on February 25. For a presention on Senior’s Care and what programs are available in Princeton, join us at Riverside, February 25 @ 7:00 pm.

On Monday, February 25th, the public is invited to attend a discussion on community seniors care to be held at Riverside Community Centre beginning at 7:00 pm. The presentation will be given by Gloria Levi, coordinator of Integrated Care Advocacy (ICA), a group of volunteers dedicated to comprehensive medical and non-medical home health care and support services for seniors in British Columbia. The title of her talk is A Vision of Community Based Health Care: Getting a Better Bang for Your Health Care Buck.

Gloria Levi resides in Vancouver and is much in demand as an advocate for senior care in our province. On October 3, 2012 she coordinated the Integrated Models for Delivering Care to Frail Seniors workshop held in Vancouver and she was a guest speaker at the BC Health Coalition’s Public Forum on Seniors Care, held in Vancouver on December 10. More recently, Levi spoke at a Seniors’ Town Hall Meeting in Comox on February 1st and on February 13, she will be featured at the monthly meeting of the Greater Victoria Seniors, Branch #191 of the BC Old Age Pensioners Organization. We are very fortunate to have Gloria coming to Princeton to share her knowledge in support of seniors’ care in our community. Hope to see you on the 25th.

NATIONAL POST – CANADA
With emergency room closures and wait times in excess of five weeks, a radical idea has emerged in rural Canada.

ERs without doctors?: New rural emergency centres rely on nurses and paramedics at night

British Columbians deserve a modern and procedurally fair adult guardianship process

Provincial Ombudsperson Kim Carter released today her latest report No Longer Your Decision: British Columbia’s Process for Appointing the Public Guardian and Trustee to Manage the Financial Affairs of Incapable Adults. According to the report, vulnerable adults can lose the right to make financial and legal decisions for themselves if a health authority issues a certificate of incapability under a law that is outdated and through a process that does not provide adequate procedural protection.

The report, executive summary, news release and fact sheet can be found at www.bcombudsperson.ca

MSN Video – Rock Center with Brian Williams

This is absolutely fascinating.

One of the world’s top physicians, Dr. Eric Topol, has a prescription that could improve your family’s health and make medical care cheaper. The cardiologist claims that the key is the smartphone. Topol has become the foremost expert in the exploding field of wireless medicine. Dr. Nancy Snyderman reports.