Policy and Research Articles
IS HOME CARE WORKING IN ONTARIO?
A REVIEW OF HOME AND COMMUNITY CARE
SUPPORT SERVICES
Over the past three and a half years Seniors for Social Action Ontario's leadership has been hearing from members about their difficulty in accessing appropriate levels of Home Care. For many, this has caused anxiety and despair, with some considering Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) because of this lack of support. This is what has led SSAO to undertake research for this report.
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Hours of volunteer work went into the preparation of this report. Please take the time to read the full report and consider sharing it with your MPs and MPPs.
Below are the links to both the Executive Summary and Full Report:
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SYSTEMIC AND INTERNALIZED AGEISM
ABANDONMENT, REJECTION, STIGMATIZATION, SEGREGATION, EXCLUSION, AND BEING IGNORED
Ageism has become an epidemic in Canada and it is having an extremely debilitating effect on the mental and physical health of older adults.
This Brief to Federal and Provincial Ministers responsible for aging policies reflects the voices of elders themselves. It is Seniors for Social Action Ontario's hope that the policy makers will finally listen.
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HOME AND COMMUNITY CARE SUPPORT SERVICES (HCCSS) CLIENT SURVEY REPORT
September 2023
To date there have been no independent reports available from HCCSS service users' perspectives. This represents the first survey report conducted independently of HCCSS or the Home Care industry in Ontario that elevates the voices of service users and their families.
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A more comprehensive research report is currently being prepared, but these survey results provide a glimpse of a home care system that is struggling with inadequate funding and resources from the Ministry of Health and Province of Ontario. This is having a negative effect on service users.
A Freedom of Information request has been filed with the Ministry of Health asking for specific information concerning HCCSS's budget and how the promised $1 billion in additional funds for Home Care have been spent.
FINAL RESEARCH REPORT - COLLABORATION BETWEEN HUMBER COLLEGE AND SSAO
April 20, 2023​
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This past year Seniors for Social Action Ontario (SSAO) collaborated with Humber College's Degree Program in Community Development on research seeking SSAO members' views about what supports and services they thought were necessary to help them to age in place.
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SSAO is very happy to share with you the research report documenting the students' work. We want to thank Lisa Post and Alexa Christopoulos for their hard work and dedication, and for so accurately capturing the views of SSAO members.
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Blue Zones and Healthy Aging
​John Lord
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This article appeared in the Waterloo Region Record on March 1, 2023.
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March 6, 2023
TAKING MATTERS INTO OUR OWN HANDS
COMMUNITY CREATIVITY AND
RESILIENCE IN ACTION:
THE MOUNT COMMUNITY CENTRE, PETERBOROUGH
February 13, 2023
INFORMATION BULLETIN
January 23, 2023
THE IMPACT OF INSTITUTIONALIZATION - SURVIVOR’S STORIES
In May of 2021, SSAO distributed an editorial on Creating Change in an Entrenched Long-Term Care System: Lessons From the Past (SSAO, 2021). It details that where we are now with the mass institutionalization of elders is exactly where we were in 1971 with the mass institutionalization of people with developmental disabilities.
Except that things are even worse now.
​Research Bulletin
A Changed Role for PSWs:
Enter Community Care Workers
January 2, 2023
TAKING MATTERS INTO OUR OWN HANDS
HEALTH CARE CO-OPS – IS IT TIME?
December 5, 2022
LINKING RESEARCH TO POLICY AND PRACTICE
DOING WITH OR DOING FOR? REABLEMENT AS AN OLDER ADULTS’ EMPOWERMENT STRATEGY
November 21, 2022
RESEARCH REPORT
LONG TERM CARE OMBUDSMAN WHO HELPS RESIDENTS RETURN TO THE COMMUNITY
October 20, 2022
INFORMATION BULLETIN
September 16, 2022
IMPACT OF BILL 7
On Thursday, September 15, 2022, the Toronto Star reported on Bill 7’s possible impact. There are several important takeaways in the article.
The first is the widespread fear the Ford government’s actions are causing. There is a perception among old, sick people and their families that this government has weaponized hospitals to take action against them if they or their families dare to resist or speak out. Sue, the subject of the Star’s report, asked that her last name be kept private over “fear of repercussions for speaking out on the new legislation…”
PRECEDENT!
Federal Government Partners with City Of Toronto to Create Staffed 24/7 Housing and Support for People at Risk of Homelessness Including Older Adults
July 28, 2022
TAKING MATTERS INTO OUR OWN HANDS
CO-HOUSING OR SHARED OWNERSHIP –
ANOTHER ALTERNATIVE TO INSTITUTIONS
July 11, 2022
TAKING MATTERS INTO OUR OWN HANDS
CARE CO-OPERATIVES – A BETTER APPROACH TO CARING FOR EACH OTHER
July 4, 2022
HOW LOCAL COUNCILORS CAN ACT TO PROMOTE ALTERNATIVES
TO INSTITUTIONS
THE EXAMPLE OF PACE, BURLINGTON
June 20, 2022
POLICY AND PLANNING BRIEF
TO
PORT HOPE COUNCIL
October 25, 2021
Posted: June 23, 2022
A RESIDENTIAL ALTERNATIVE TO INSTITUTIONS FOR OLDER ADULTS LIVING WITH DEMENTIA
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June 13, 2022
Social Task Shifting:
What’s different about directly-funded home care?
Christine Kelly
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June 10, 2022
Hospice Palliative Care:
Key Component of Comprehensive Elder Care
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June 5, 2022
Enhancing HomeCare:
Enabling a Full Life in Community
Linda Till
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​March 15, 2022
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​AGING WELL WITH "NATURAL SUPPORTS"
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John Lord
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​March 8, 2022
​Information Bulletin
COMMUNITY FIRST CHOICE:
PERSON-DIRECTED SERVICES TO KEEP PEOPLE AT HOME
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​March 1, 2022
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DEMENTIA VILLAGES:
A NEW TYPE OF INSTITUTION?
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​February 15, 2022
​Research, Evidence, and Elder Care Reform
John Lord
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January 27, 2022
Pervasive Ageism and Bias Toward
Older Adults in the Healthcare System
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Emma Rowland
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December 20, 2021
Direct Funding Can Enhance Home Care for Elders
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John Lord
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December 7, 2021
RESEARCH REPORT –
MONEY FOLLOWS THE PERSON
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​NOVEMBER 18, 2021
Eldercare Reform –
A Provincial Election Priority
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​NOVEMBER 4, 2021