The OSA releases new report entitled “We Must Do Better: Home Support Services

BC Seniors Advocate Isobel Mackenzie is urging the provincial government to undertake a fundamental restructuring of home support services.

In this new report entitled “We Must Do Better: Home Support Services for B.C. Seniors”, the BC Seniors Advocate Isobel Mackenzie provides a comprehensive review of the province’s home support services and finds they are in need of fundamental restructuring. This second review demonstrates that the program is not keeping pace with the needs of a growing seniors’ population and the service remains unaffordable to a large number of seniors.

The report examines 5-year trends in home support funding, hours of care, client acuity, affordability and caregiver distress. Findings reveal that client complexity and frailty is rising, care hours are not growing to meet this need, and more of the care is being shifted to family caregivers who continue to experience high levels of distress.

The review includes survey responses from over 6,000 seniors who receive home support and found  people who receive service have high regard for the staff who provide their care and do not feel they are subject to discrimination.

Watch the report release here

Click here to read the report and accompanying documents.