The Anchorage Community Planning Partners (ACPP) held their third meeting on August 9 at Princeton General Hospital, continuing their work to co-create an inclusive, holistic mental health and substance use program tailored to meet the diverse needs of Princeton clients. The partnership includes representatives from Princeton Family Services Society, Princeton Town Council, Cascade Medical Group, BC Ambulance Community Paramedicine, Interior Health, and Support Our Health Care Society.

At the previous meeting, five working groups were formed: Program Development, Space, Partnership Development, Budget, and Communication.

Elaine Carlson and Colleen Wedd gave a report on Program Development, emphasizing that the Anchorage Clubhouse remains open, offering a wide variety of programs at their new, temporary location. The Clubhouse is open for ‘members’ to drop-in from 9:00 am to 2:00 pm on Monday and Tuesday and for other programs that are offered on Wednesday and Thursday. The Programs Working Group also outlined a proposal that included extended mental health services for Princeton and Area.

Heather Eriksen leads the Partnership Development working group and reported on a meeting she had with Princeton Senior Citizens Association. She also indicated that future partnerships might include local service organizations.

The Space working group comprises Rosemary Doughty, Jo-Ann Ferguson, Elaine Carlson, and Kim Maynard. Doughty reported that progress is being made in their efforts to find a permanent new home for the Anchorage Clubhouse.

Joseph Savage leads the Budget working group. He gave a report showing present Interior Health funding, indicating that future budgets will need to reflect program and facility developments.

The Communication working group consists of Edward Staples and Joseph Savage. The members of the ACPP want the community to know that through their cooperative efforts, they are confident that improved services will make the Anchorage a stronger and more effective member of our community.

Advocates for Canada’s seniors will be watching closely this week as the federal Liberal government meets in Sudbury to plan for the fall session of parliament. Based on the finding of a recent Ipsos survey conducted by the Canadian Medical Association, 84% of Canadians ranked the need for a national seniors strategy as very or somewhat important.

The following excerpts, from a recent article by John Muscedere and Samir Sinha appearing on the Evidence Network website, provide important insight into the need to accommodate specific challenges facing many Canadian seniors:

“When the previous Health Accord expired in 2014, the Harper government unilaterally established a new funding model for federal health transfer payments to the provinces and territories based on an equal per capita basis. Built into the model was a guarantee that no province would receive less than its 2013 transfer amount with a further guaranteed minimum three percent growth rate from 2017 onward. So, what’s not to love?

Plenty. The truth is, in a country as diverse and varied as Canada, such a per capita funding model creates winners and losers. For provinces with flourishing economies and/or younger populations, the formula may be a welcome one. But for many provinces and territories, this funding formula fails to recognize and accommodate their particular challenges and needs. This is because per capita models fundamentally ignore the sometimes extreme variations in socio-economic, demographic and health status of regional populations across Canada — a significant oversight.”

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“Frailty is common in our aging population but it remains highly under-recognized. It’s estimated that over one million Canadians are clinically frail. Clinical frailty can occur at any age and describes individuals who are in precarious health, have significant multiple health impairments and are at higher risk of dying. The hallmark of frailty is that minor illnesses such as infections or minor injuries which would be handled easily by non-frail individuals may trigger major deteriorations in health.”

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“Systematically recognizing frailty in Canadians and targeting federal health funding based in part on frailty would both help those provinces and territories who have more significant health and social care needs in this area, but also flag the issue of frailty as one that needs to be urgently addressed across the country.”

John Muscedere is Scientific Director and CEO of Canadian Frailty Network (CFN), an interdisciplinary network dedicated to improving care of frail elderly Canadians. He is also a critical care physician at Kingston General Hospital.

Samir Sinha is Director of Geriatrics at Sinai Health System and the University Health Network Hospitals in Toronto, Co-Chair of the National Institute on Ageing’s Advisory Board, and a member of the CFN Research Management Committee.

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The following article by Lauren Vogel appeared in the August issue of the CMAJ News

Most Canadians want seniors’ health to take top priority under a new health accord, but few realize that new funding talks are underway, according to the 16th Annual National Report Card on Health Care by the Canadian Medical Association (CMA).

Only 15% of Canadians polled by Ipsos Reid for the report were aware the federal government is renegotiating how it provides health funding to provinces and territories. Even so, most people agreed on what a new accord should include.

At the top of their wish list: a national seniors’ health strategy, which 84% of Canadians ranked as very or somewhat important. Seventy-four percent supported additional federal payments to provinces and territories with older populations. “Over the next 20 years, the number of seniors in Canada is going to double and the number over the age of 85 is going to quadruple, and we will have increased demands, challenges and costs looking after them,” says CMA President Dr. Cindy Forbes. “I don’t believe we can continue to spend money on the same things.”

The current model of divvying up federal health dollars on a per-capita basis doesn’t reflect that some provinces have older populations with greater health care demands, Forbes explains.

As a family physician in Nova Scotia, she already sees long waits for home care, consultants and Continue reading →