{"id":31166,"date":"2018-12-14T03:49:16","date_gmt":"2018-12-14T11:49:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/?p=31166"},"modified":"2018-12-12T12:25:04","modified_gmt":"2018-12-12T20:25:04","slug":"canadas-silver-tsunami","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/2018\/12\/14\/canadas-silver-tsunami\/","title":{"rendered":"Canada\u2019s silver tsunami"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Isobel Mackenzie, seniors advocate\nfor the Province of British Columbia, was the keynote speaker at the Changing\nLandscape: Pathways Ahead forum Nov. 27. (photo from Jewish Federation)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPlan for tomorrow!\u201d That\u2019s the message from\nIsobel Mackenzie, seniors advocate for the Province of British Columbia. With\nseniors living much longer, there are some urgent issues facing aging\nCanadians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mackenzie was speaking to a packed house at the\nChanging Landscape: Pathways Ahead forum on the growing population of older\nadults in the Jewish community. Hosted by Jewish Federation of Greater\nVancouver with the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver, Jewish Family\nServices, Jewish Seniors Alliance, Kehila Society of Richmond, L\u2019Chaim Adult\nDay Care, and Louis Brier Home and Hospital, the forum was held at Beth Israel\nSynagogue Nov. 27. Three key themes were the focus of the evening: caregiver\nsupport; aging in place; and social connections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sharing insights into best practices and new\nopportunities for the Jewish community were: on caregiver support, Dr. Beverley\nPitman, regional planner, healthy aging, United Way of the Lower Mainland; on\naging in place, Terry Robertson of Parkdale Manor; and, on social connections,\nGyda Chud (Peretz Centre for Secular Jewish Culture), Ken Levitt (Jewish\nSeniors Alliance), Toby Rubin (Kehila Society of Richmond) and Lisa Cohen Quay\n(Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Referencing the United Way\u2019s Better at Home program,\nwhich helps seniors live independently in their own homes while remaining\nconnected to the community, Mackenzie emphasized, \u201cWe are under-subsidizing\npeople who are aging at home.\u201d She added that many seniors pay for their own\ncare as they age, despite insufficient income. She highlighted the urgency for\ngovernment and community agencies to increase their funding for seniors who\nchoose to age in place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mackenzie told the capacity crowd that, right\nnow, there are 920,000 seniors over the age of 65 living in British Columbia,\nwhich represents 19% of the total population. By 2031, there will be 1.38\nmillion seniors in the province, which will represent 25% of the total\npopulation. Referring to \u201cthe silver tsunami,\u201d she said we need to start\nplanning for that change now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Addressing financial issues, Mackenzie said\nmany seniors have less disposable income than their younger counterparts. For\nexample, she noted that, for seniors age 65 and older, the bottom 20% of that\ngroup have an annual average single income of $17,000, while the top 20% have\nan annual average single income of $80,000. For seniors 85 and older, she said,\nthe bottom 20% have an income of $17,500 while the top 20% have an income of\n$73,000. These numbers have a significant impact on how and where those seniors\nlive. \u201cDisproportionately poorer people live in care facilities,\u201d said\nMackenzie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She also commented that there is a disconnect\nin terms of public policy and the entitlements available to those 65 and older,\nwhen the government is giving the same amount of money to both the rich and the\npoor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Mackenzie, 94% of all seniors who\nare 65 or older live independently, while 74% of all seniors who are 85 or\nolder live independently. A full 80% of these seniors are homeowners, she said.\nHowever, the remaining 20% are renters who are disproportionately poorer than\nhomeowners. Consequently, they often don\u2019t have enough leftover income to buy\nnecessities like glasses, hearing aids and mobility devices, she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the topic of aging in place, Mackenzie\npointed to family members\u2019 overall reluctance to allow elderly relatives to\n\u201caccept risk\u201d; that is, to live independently. Given the dangers inherent in\nliving at home (stairs, rugs, lack of bathtub rails, etc.), she said relatives\nsometimes try to \u201ccontrol the risks\u201d by encouraging loved ones to move to a\ncare facility, often against the older person\u2019s wishes. \u201cWe have to accept the\nrights of the [cognitively able] elderly to live at risk,\u201d she said. \u201cThey have\nthe right to make their own decisions, even if it\u2019s a risky decision.\u201d The\nmessage was, while we want our elderly to be safe, it\u2019s not our choice to make.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In terms of the social isolation of those aging\nin place, Mackenzie said this depends primarily on the senior\u2019s level of engagement.\nIf their interactions with others are limited, they may feel marginalized.\nHowever, feeling useful to themselves and others keeps seniors feeling engaged,\nwhich is why we see so many senior volunteers. \u201cEverybody needs to feel useful\nand is useful, in their own way,\u201d said Mackenzie. She encouraged people not to\ndo things for seniors that they can do for themselves, because \u201ceveryone needs\na sense of purpose and usefulness.\u201d She stressed that not all seniors are frail\nand not all seniors need help. Rather than viewing seniors as a problem, she\nsaid, we should view them as \u201can active and valuable citizenry.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the issue of caregivers, Mackenzie said,\n\u201cNot everyone comes to this role equally equipped. We need to give more support\nto caregivers for the frail elderly and those with dementia. It\u2019s more\nstressful dealing with someone with dementia than with someone who has a\nphysical disability or disease.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the possible exception of the workshop on\nsocial connections, whose speakers were from Jewish agencies, but whose\nworkshop the Jewish Independent<\/em> could not attend, none of the presenters\naddressed how the community could support Jewish seniors in connecting to their\nJudaism, culture and traditions as they age. Neither Mackenzie or Pitman, the\npresenter on caregiver support, differentiated between the needs of Jewish\nseniors and non-Jewish seniors; the workshop on aging in place also did not\nspecifically address Jewish seniors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pitman, however, shared some eye-opening\nstatistics in her workshop. According to the Office of the Seniors Advocate for\nBritish Columbia\u2019s 2017 report Caregivers in Distress: A Growing Problem<\/em>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Statistics Canada estimates that there are\napproximately one million caregivers in the province.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 The work of caregivers is a critical pillar\nin the healthcare system, allowing seniors to remain at home and delay, or even\nprevent, costly care options.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Unpaid caregivers provide roughly\nthree-quarters of care for people who receive care at home in Canada.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Caregiver tasks range from taking over\nhousehold duties to providing time-sensitive personal and medical care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Caregivers\u2019 most common tasks fall into three\nbroad categories: emotional support, assistance with health and daily living,\nand care management.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Caregivers are often information and referral\nspecialists and systems navigators dealing with the health system, the housing\nsystem and the legal system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 2017 report notes that, on average, unpaid\ncaregivers provide 20 hours per week of informal care and that replacing the\ncare they provide with care from paid caregivers would cost an estimated $3.5\nbillion in British Columbia. And the report warned that \u201c31% of unpaid\ncaregivers are experiencing symptoms of distress such as anger, depression,\nanxiety and sleep difficulties.\u201d This number seemed low to audience members who\nare or were caregivers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pitman also shared a sample of the resources\navailable for caregivers, including BC211, 8-1-1 HealthLinkBC, local Jewish and\nother community support agencies, information and referral services, and\nlibraries. She encouraged caregivers to call the Family Caregivers of British\nColumbia Caregiver Support Line (1-877-520-3267) if in need and highlighted the\nUnited Way\u2019s Better at Home, which can provide light housekeeping, minor house\nrepair, yard work and friendly visits. She offered audience members the 2016\npublication United Way of the Lower Mainland\u2019s Family & Friend\nCaregivers Information and Resource Handbook<\/em>. While acknowledging that it\u2019s\nsomewhat out-of-date, she said it still contains much valuable information. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shelley Civkin<\/strong> is a happily\nretired librarian and communications officer. For 17 years, she wrote a weekly\nbook review column for the <\/em>Richmond Review, and currently writes a\nbi-weekly column about retirement for the <\/em>Richmond News.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Isobel Mackenzie, seniors advocate for the Province of British Columbia, was the keynote speaker at the Changing Landscape: Pathways Ahead forum Nov. 27. (photo from Jewish Federation) \u201cPlan for tomorrow!\u201d That\u2019s the message from Isobel Mackenzie, seniors advocate for the Province of British Columbia. With seniors living much longer, there are some urgent issues facing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":31167,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[606,8586,8302,3714],"class_list":["post-31166","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local","tag-aging-in-place","tag-isobel-mackenzie","tag-lifestyle","tag-seniors"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31166","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31166"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31166\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31167"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31166"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31166"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31166"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}