Brandon host site for seniors care pilot project

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 02/08/2023 (1036 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Brandon will be the site of a pilot project that seeks to provide more at-home services for seniors.

While it’s being touted as good news for the health region, it’s being met with caution by a non-political organization.

The Manitoba government will invest $3.3 million for a new home and community care program for the province’s seniors so they can remain in their homes longer, Seniors and Long-term Care Minister Scott Johnston said at a news conference Tuesday in Winnipeg.

The new program is called Client and Determined Community Care (CDCC), said Johnston, and will offer new care options tailored to the health needs and goals of clients, while at the same time filling a gap.

“Manitoba seniors have told us they want to remain in their own homes for as long as possible while they age, so they can stay socially active and connected to their families and communities,” Johnston said during the news conference.

There are three communities selected for the pilot project — Prairie Mountain Health (PMH), Southern Health-Santé Sud, and Interlake-Eastern Regional Health Authority.

Of the 200 clients who will eventually be selected for the pilot program, PMH will take on 60, said Debbie Poole, regional lead of clinical planning with PMH, who was alongside Johnston at the news conference.

“I’m really excited,” Poole said. “From my time working in health care, I have seen where a personal care home has been the only option because we haven’t been able to provide these supports to keep people in their home. Don’t get me wrong — a personal care home is absolutely the best place for people that truly need that, but just need that little bit more intensive support to keep them in their home. That’s fabulous for the citizens of Manitoba and for Prairie Mountain Health.”

There are three areas, Poole said, that have been identified as important support services for seniors, including professional services that range from therapy to personal care, as well as support for caregivers.

Home support encompasses meals and housekeeping, and the last service is recreational support, which Poole added is doing activities with, and not for, seniors.

Also, part of the CDCC will be the inclusion of spiritual care services and elder services for First Nations, Inuit and Métis clients.

Individuals will be able to request spiritual care and elder services for up to 10 hours per month, in addition to their assessed home care hours, as required.

Seniors will be selected after going through a comprehensive assessment conducted by health professionals in each of the regional health authorities, stated Johnson during the news conference.

But before the pilot program is launched, the provincial government will release a request for proposal to find approved service providers.

A request for proposal will be released later this summer and the launch of the pilot program is targeted for the spring of 2024.

The government’s CDCC funding announcement is another example of privatizing Manitoba’s health-care system, said NDP health critic Uzoma Asagwara.

“It’s also an admission of failure by this government with regards to home care. It’s the PC government admitting that they have failed to deliver home care to thousands of Manitobans who depend on it, and that they’ve essentially given up on trying to do so. There are thousands right now who don’t know whether they’re going to get the home care that they need,” Asagwara told the Sun in a phone interview.

The Manitoba Health Coalition is a non-profit, non-partisan organization that advocates for the preservation of universal, public health care.

Provincial director Thomas Linner said if this is a program to be delivered, it could be done by the government instead of privatizing the services.

“We know there has been so much trauma in the long-term care system, and so much difficulty with publicly available home care. We’ve got to get down to some brass tacks and be looking after the needs of seniors right now, urgently, and immediately, not at some point in the future,” Linner said.

» mmcdougall@brandonsun.com

» Twitter: @enviromichele