Public consultations on seniors’ health care in rural communities

Mar 10, 2011

Photo: Seniors’ advocate Christine McMillan

In an effort to get feedback from the grass roots on the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care's recommendations for rural and northern health care for seniors, Christine McMillan, who is on the board of the Kingston and Frontenac Council on Aging and who also chairs the Council on Aging Network of Ontario, held a public consultation at the Sydenham town hall on March 1.

The meeting was sparsely attended but those who did show up had a chance to respond to the government recommendations on health care for seniors in rural areas and to voice other concerns that might have been missed. “Our goal is to see if these recommendations will indeed help seniors in these rural communities, but it is also to identify other issues that might have been overlooked and then come up with innovative solutions to address them,” McMillan said.

Those present agreed with 10 of the 12 recommendations, which included: establishing and integrating innovative human health resources; increasing the integration of Emergency Medical Services (land and air) and Public Health Services at the provincial and regional levels; supporting local hubs of health; improving collaboration among health providers in referral networks; including local communities in the decision making process with the Local Health Integration Networks (LHIN) regarding health issues and issues of capacity; targeting improvements in all aspects of inter facility transfers; reviewing community based non-urgent transportation solutions; and improving provincial information management, as well as clinical and education technology availability.

Issues brought up by the public that were not addressed in the recommendations included: improving the availability of various medical therapists, increasing the public awareness of health care providers, increasing the availability of preventive medicine, and increasing funding for wellness programs.

Some innovative ideas were also suggested, including encouraging medical professionals from Kingston Military College to also serve the rural communities.

McMillan is well versed in the ins and outs of the government health programs and has worked on the Council on Aging for years advocating for seniors on a number of issues. Roughly five years ago the council made a presentation to the government highlighting the fact that many seniors would not have pensions when they retired. “We told the government that no matter how much these workers try to save independently they would never have enough to support them in their retirement. We suggested a voluntary government-sponsored pension program, which is now going to be established.” The council also started up a program of supported living for seniors in Kingston. The successful program now supports 49 seniors in a Kingston building with three in-house personal support workers and a regular meal program run through St. Lawrence College. The program costs the government just $15 per day per person.

For anyone wanting their issues addressed,

McMillan will be holding another public consultation in Sharbot Lake area in the near future. Watch the Northern Happenings for a listing. The recommendations gained from these public consultations will be passed along to the South east LHIN, and the Ministry of Health.