June 5, 2024

By now, we know what to expect. June is Seniors Month, and the words are as predictable as the date. If you are an older Ontarian, you can receive a congratulatory message from government officials or even royalty for a milestone birthday or anniversary. You can also be recognized on social media or nominated for an Ontario Senior Achievement Award or Ontario Senior of the Year Award.

There’s more. Seniors Active Living Centres offer exercises and education. A website and online guide have information and lists of programs. The Seniors Community Grants fund small projects to keep older adults at home and in their communities.

But these don’t work for everyone, and government’s tone diminishes older adults.

Participants in active living centres are expected to emerge healthy, socially connected, and (judging by the photographs) smiling. But what about older adults who can’t get to those centres or who need help at home with everyday activities? Online programs and service directories are useful, but only to those who can afford computers and have reliable internet services and the training and technical support to use them. Small local projects can be promising, but are time-limited, with no connection to each other and no capacity to make real change.

What is particularly disturbing is the overall tone. The announcements are ageist and dismissive – a series of verbal pats on the head. Older adults aren’t treated simply as one group of people who, along with others, make up Ontario, but are set apart. There are constant references to what “we” (the provincial government) are doing for “them” (older Ontarians). An award with an age requirement in the title puts the age ahead of the actual accomplishment, when it’s the accomplishment that’s important. It’s all a public relations exercise. If older adults can be made to feel sufficiently grateful, perhaps they won’t ask for more.

“Please stop talking down to us. Work with us, not for us.”

This year’s Seniors Month theme – “Working for Seniors” – tells us quite a bit. If there has been any consultation with older adults – individuals or organizations – we hear nothing about it. Older Ontarians need and deserve more. Let’s look at some examples.

• Stable funding for home and community services, with equitable compensation for the workers who provide them
• Legislating the Ontario Caregiver Support Benefit to give unpaid caregivers direct financial support
• Adoption of universal design principles to make dwellings and public buildings accessible to all
• Improved consumer protection to guard against the scams that victimize older adults
• A strategy for older adults that incorporates individual projects into a larger long-term framework

Government has to ask older adults what they need and want. What is working for them? What needs to be added, expanded, or changed? That’s the difference between working for older adults and working with them.

What can you do?

• Don’t settle for a pat on the head or for empty messages year after year.
• Look more closely. Can you find services that meet your needs? Can you access them? If not, speak up.