{"id":1330,"date":"2018-08-14T00:11:08","date_gmt":"2018-08-14T04:11:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/?p=1330"},"modified":"2018-08-14T00:11:08","modified_gmt":"2018-08-14T04:11:08","slug":"pushing-for-freedom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/?p=1330","title":{"rendered":"Pushing for freedom"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ontario Retirement Communities Association pushing government to create Senior Services Benefit to put control for care back in the hands of seniors<\/em><\/h4>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Laurie Johnston, ORCA\u2008CEO<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By Joel Wittnebel
\nACTIVE SENIOR\u2019S DIGEST<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a simple enough idea. One that would put more money into the hands of seniors, allowing them to choose the care and services they need in order to live independently for longer. In turn, it could have a direct impact on a crisis in long-term care that is raging across the province.<\/p>\n

The Senior Services Benefit is an idea that has been long proposed by the Ontario Retirement Communities Association (ORCA), and with the Ontario election this month, Laurie Johnston, the ORCA CEO knew that it was time to step up the efforts to try and make the benefit a priority.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis affordable benefit is something that is being used worldwide in all other western nations and we\u2019re just very slow to pick up on it here in Canada,\u201d she says. \u201cI don\u2019t think there\u2019s anybody out there who doesn\u2019t want to be able to have choice at the end of the day and the Senior Services Benefit allows people to choose how they\u2019re going to remain in the community and be supported.\u201d<\/p>\n

Put simply, the Senior Services benefit would create a program to allow seniors to receive money, based on assessment criteria, that would allow them to pick the proper care they need, whether that\u2019s home care, support services, rent, or even food.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt allows people to choose how they\u2019re going to create the framework around them they need to remain independent,\u201d Johnston says, noting that a large portion of the pressure being placed on the long-term care system is from people who may not be in long-term care beds for health reasons, but because life is simply becoming unaffordable for them. Currently, wait lists for long-term care beds in Ontario are extensive, with the average wait time for a care bed being 161 days. Currently, Ontario has a waiting list for long-term care beds of over 33,000 people according to information from the Ontario Long-term Care Association.<\/p>\n

\u201cNobody is talking about the fact that there are many seniors out there who are on the edge of not being able to remain independent. Not necessarily because of their health, but because of money,\u201d Johnston says. \u201cSo, the idea of having a Senior Services Benefit is to provide them with a top-up that allows them to stay where they are and purchase services that are appropriate for them without having to go through a difficult and quite frankly, expensive, government program.\u201d<\/p>\n

Currently, seniors can receive assistance through their Local Health Integration Network (LHIN), where they are assessed and provided with a list of what care they are eligible for. Johnston says it is often a confusing and faulty process.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s convoluted and the senior is not in charge, and this is where it really is not a service to the senior,\u201d she says. \u201cThe senior does not know who is going to show up on any given day when they receive that service, they have no option if somebody doesn\u2019t show up, where do they go?\u201d<\/p>\n

Currently, the idea has received little traction from politicians, despite the fact that ORCA has been attempting to get the Liberal government onboard for a number of years. Moving forward, Johnston says that ORCA will continue to push for the benefit to be implemented.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is really the only way that we\u2019re going to be able to afford what\u2019s happening to our society in terms of demographics,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Statistically speaking, it\u2019s estimated that by 2036, there will be over 10 million seniors living in Canada. Johnston says \u201cthere\u2019s no question\u201d in her mind that such a benefit would help to alleviate pressure on the systems designed to support seniors.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s just a matter of getting the message out and I believe that people are going to latch onto this because it just makes sense.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ontario Retirement Communities Association pushing government to create Senior Services Benefit to put control for care back in the hands of seniors By Joel Wittnebel […] Read More<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1332,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nPushing for freedom - Active Senior's Digest<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/?p=1330\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Pushing for freedom - Active Senior's Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Ontario Retirement Communities Association pushing government to create Senior Services Benefit to put control for care back in the hands of seniors By Joel Wittnebel […] Read More\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/?p=1330\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Active Senior's Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-08-14T04:11:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/laura-johnston-main.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"500\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"active\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/\",\"name\":\"Active Senior's Digest\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/?p=1330#primaryimage\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/laura-johnston-main.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/laura-johnston-main.jpg\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":500},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/?p=1330#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/?p=1330\",\"name\":\"Pushing for freedom - 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