April 20, 2022

Let’s listen to older Ontarians. More than 90% of them have said they want to grow older at home and not in an institution. Yet Ontario gives more attention and more funding to institutional care. The system has lost its balance.

Here’s what we know

• Home and community care serves more than 1 million Ontarians. Most of them are referred directly from the community rather than from hospitals.
• Over the past five years, most Canadian provinces have increased funding for home and community services by about 30%. Ontario, Canada’s largest and most populated province, has increased this funding by only 19% over the same period. That’s less than the rate of inflation and makes Ontario eighth out of ten provinces in per capita spending.
• It costs about $730 per day for a long-term care patient in a hospital, $203 per day for comparable service in a long-term care home, and $105 per day for a client receiving home and community care.
• 8% of newly admitted long-term care home residents could have stayed at home if they had the right supports. That means more than 8,000 Ontarians could have lived where they wanted to.
• Let’s do the math. It would cost $1,624,000/day for those 8,000 Ontarians to be in a long-term care home and $824,000/day for them to receive home and community services. That’s a difference of $800,000 for only one day. Try multiplying that for a full year.
• There are 38,000 Ontarians on a waiting list for a long-term care home. That list could be a lot smaller. When there are enough home and community services, a long-term care home can be the last resort and used only when it’s really needed

Let’s listen to older Ontarians.

Home and community care is what people want, ait it uses government resources wisely.

When a system is balanced, home and community care services are at the centre.

Here’s what we need to know

Home and community care is the foundation of a system for caring for older Ontarians. It belongs squarely at the centre. Candidates and parties need to tell us what they are prepared to do to make these services available to everyone who needs them. Here are some questions you can ask.

• Will you and your party commit to fully fund home and community care services?
• How will you know, and how will you tell us, that these services are delivered effectively?
• What is your plan for making essential home and community services available to older adults across Ontario?

Ask, think, and then vote!