News & Events
Response to LTC Strategy
March 3, 2008
In our view: NB needs enough support workers to care for seniors at home Saturdays Daily Gleaner Published Saturday March 1st, 2008 Appeared on page B6 The New Brunswick government unveiled its long-term care strategy, entitled Be Independent. Longer, this week and, not surprisingly, it is light on details. Writing that phrase, "light on details" in reference to provincial government reports, grew stale some time ago.Much like a journey of 1,000 miles beginning with a single step, we think it would be fitting if at least one of the government's massive reports started with a single detail.Common sense tells us, with the way New Brunswick's -- and Canada's, for that matter -- demographics are going, there will be more and more seniors and fewer and fewer younger people to take care of them.
When the government set out to study what was needed to care for seniors, it acknowledged the importance of being prepared for that. The Gleaner published a special edition last fall, with stories in every section, entirely devoted to how we should prepare to take care of the growing number of seniors.The report the government released this week is little more than a glorified mission statement, a wish list if you will. Our hearts sink when we read in the report that seniors want to stay in their own homes as long as possible.That's not news. Neither is it not news that there's not enough support for families taking care of seniors in their own homes.
It's not news that there's a massive shortage of home-support workers. It's not news that hospital beds are clogged -- to use the insensitive term -- with seniors who, with appropriate supports, could go home, free up the bed and have a higher quality of life.But sadly, it's also not news this government releases reports that do little more than call for more discussion. It's time to stop talking and put the money in the budget that would ensure enough home-support workers to care for seniors. That's the best first step the government can take in this particular 1,000-mile journey.
Follow-up steps of paying compensation to family members who care for seniors, making employers introduce family-friendly policies, giving tax breaks to families who convert their homes to accommodate seniors would go a long way to solving this problem.Until the government does that, families will continue to struggle to make sure grandma has enough support, enough supervision, enough meals delivered to keep her safe and healthy.It means seniors without nearby family or neighbours willing to help out, are at high risk of ending up needlessly institutionalized. It means the endless cycle of talking about how to keep those seniors in their own homes will continue. Care strategy short on details
By STEPHEN LLEWELLYN
llewellyn.stephen@dailygleaner.com
Published Friday February 29th, 2008
Appeared on page A4
The Liberal government's strategy to fight the shortage of home-support workers is to come up with a strategy.That was the message in the new long-term care strategy entitled Be Independent. Longer. released Thursday by Social Development Minister Mary Schryer and Minister of State for Seniors Eugene McGinley."Seniors told us they want to stay at home as long as possible and they need services to do that," said McGinley.But the report also identifies the shortage of home-support workers who help seniors live independently in their homes as a major concern.
The home-care industry has been calling for changes, including: better wages; paid mileage for workers; and equal pay for workers at homes, special-care homes and nursing homes as is done in Nova Scotia so the types of care don't compete for workers.Nova Scotia also pays more than New Brunswick. But all the strategy released Thursday did was call for more discussion. "Engage all partners to develop an attraction, recruitment and retention strategy which will address the issues of career development and working conditions," stated the plan.
Bob Price, president of the New Brunswick Home Support Association, said he hopes to see more details in next month's budget."There are not a lot of specifics," he said. "When you press for them, you are just told it is a 10-year plan."Price said the association met with Schryer and McGinley a few weeks ago."We asked them to correct the mileage problem," he said. "It is not proper."
In January, Price told The Daily Gleaner his industry was having trouble finding enough workers."It is not getting better," he said Thursday. "We cannot fill all the cases."Hundreds of seniors are clogging New Brunswick's hospitals while they wait for home-care support.Adelard Cormier, chairman of the New Brunswick Healthcare Association, which represents the eight regional health authorities, said the issue of wages and mileage for home-care workers must be addressed immediately."Definitely it is not a positive thing to have health-care workers pay their own mileage," he said. "There are some very short-term issues that it (the strategy) did not address."Recruiting and retention of workers has to be addressed ASAP."Cecile Cassista, executive director of the Coalition for Nursing Home Residents' Rights, said the coalition is calling for home-care workers to be treated the same as extra-mural care workers with proper wages, mileage compensation, benefits and pensions."Today for the most part, we have poor (working) women helping poor (elderly) women," she said. Opposition Social Development critic Jody Carr said the report was lacking on specifics and was nothing more than a glorified mission statement.
"We need to see an immediate increase in wages for home-support workers," he said. "Training is good but if you can't pay the wage they need, then they are not going to be retained." Schryer said the home workers got a pay hike of four per cent last year.She also said that most home-care workers are women and the government has started a pay equity review of the positions."We do recognize that recruitment and retention is a serious matter," said McGinley.He said the question of payment for mileage has concerned him for several years because he represents a rural riding. "There is not a yes or no answer," he replied when asked for a yes or no answer if the government would pay mileage.McGinley said there's a formula that pays something to home-care workers for mileage now, but it was complicated and he couldn't explain it. "Those workers should be paid mileage," said McGinley. "I want to see there is fairness in compensating these employees. "If it is something that has to be done then it has to be done if it is the right thing to do."
