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)
“Plan for tomorrow!” That’s the message from
Isobel Mackenzie, seniors advocate for the Province of British Columbia. With
seniors living much longer, there are some urgent issues facing aging
Canadians.
Mackenzie was speaking to a packed house at the
Changing Landscape: Pathways Ahead forum on the growing population of older
adults in the Jewish community. Hosted by Jewish Federation of Greater
Vancouver with the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver, Jewish Family
Services, Jewish Seniors Alliance, Kehila Society of Richmond, L’Chaim Adult
Day Care, and Louis Brier Home and Hospital, the forum was held at Beth Israel
Synagogue Nov. 27. Three key themes were the focus of the evening: caregiver
support; aging in place; and social connections.
Sharing insights into best practices and new
opportunities for the Jewish community were: on caregiver support, Dr. Beverley
Pitman, regional planner, healthy aging, United Way of the Lower Mainland; on
aging in place, Terry Robertson of Parkdale Manor; and, on social connections,
Gyda Chud (Peretz Centre for Secular Jewish Culture), Ken Levitt (Jewish
Seniors Alliance), Toby Rubin (Kehila Society of Richmond) and Lisa Cohen Quay
(Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver).
Referencing the United Way’s Better at Home program,
which helps seniors live independently in their own homes while remaining
connected to the community, Mackenzie emphasized, “We are under-subsidizing
people who are aging at home.” She added that many seniors pay for their own
care as they age, despite insufficient income. She highlighted the urgency for
government and community agencies to increase their funding for seniors who
choose to age in place.
Mackenzie told the capacity crowd that, right
now, there are 920,000 seniors over the age of 65 living in British Columbia,
which represents 19% of the total population. By 2031, there will be 1.38
million seniors in the province, which will represent 25% of the total
population. Referring to “the silver tsunami,” she said we need to start
planning for that change now.
Addressing financial issues, Mackenzie said
many seniors have less disposable income than their younger counterparts. For
example, she noted that, for seniors age 65 and older, the bottom 20% of that
group have an annual average single income of $17,000, while the top 20% have
an annual average single income of $80,000. For seniors 85 and older, she said,
the bottom 20% have an income of $17,500 while the top 20% have an income of
$73,000. These numbers have a significant impact on how and where those seniors
live. “Disproportionately poorer people live in care facilities,” said
Mackenzie.
She also commented that there is a disconnect
in terms of public policy and the entitlements available to those 65 and older,
when the government is giving the same amount of money to both the rich and the
poor.
According to Mackenzie, 94% of all seniors who
are 65 or older live independently, while 74% of all seniors who are 85 or
older live independently. A full 80% of these seniors are homeowners, she said.
However, the remaining 20% are renters who are disproportionately poorer than
homeowners. Consequently, they often don’t have enough leftover income to buy
necessities like glasses, hearing aids and mobility devices, she said.
On the topic of aging in place, Mackenzie
pointed to family members’ overall reluctance to allow elderly relatives to
“accept risk”; that is, to live independently. Given the dangers inherent in
living at home (stairs, rugs, lack of bathtub rails, etc.), she said relatives
sometimes try to “control the risks” by encouraging loved ones to move to a
care facility, often against the older person’s wishes. “We have to accept the
rights of the [cognitively able] elderly to live at risk,” she said. “They have
the right to make their own decisions, even if it’s a risky decision.” The
message was, while we want our elderly to be safe, it’s not our choice to make.
In terms of the social isolation of those aging
in place, Mackenzie said this depends primarily on the senior’s level of engagement.
If their interactions with others are limited, they may feel marginalized.
However, feeling useful to themselves and others keeps seniors feeling engaged,
which is why we see so many senior volunteers. “Everybody needs to feel useful
and is useful, in their own way,” said Mackenzie. She encouraged people not to
do things for seniors that they can do for themselves, because “everyone needs
a sense of purpose and usefulness.” She stressed that not all seniors are frail
and not all seniors need help. Rather than viewing seniors as a problem, she
said, we should view them as “an active and valuable citizenry.”
On the issue of caregivers, Mackenzie said,
“Not everyone comes to this role equally equipped. We need to give more support
to caregivers for the frail elderly and those with dementia. It’s more
stressful dealing with someone with dementia than with someone who has a
physical disability or disease.”
With the possible exception of the workshop on
social connections, whose speakers were from Jewish agencies, but whose
workshop the Jewish Independent could not attend, none of the presenters
addressed how the community could support Jewish seniors in connecting to their
Judaism, culture and traditions as they age. Neither Mackenzie or Pitman, the
presenter on caregiver support, differentiated between the needs of Jewish
seniors and non-Jewish seniors; the workshop on aging in place also did not
specifically address Jewish seniors.
Pitman, however, shared some eye-opening
statistics in her workshop. According to the Office of the Seniors Advocate for
British Columbia’s 2017 report Caregivers in Distress: A Growing Problem:
• Statistics Canada estimates that there are
approximately one million caregivers in the province.
• The work of caregivers is a critical pillar
in the healthcare system, allowing seniors to remain at home and delay, or even
prevent, costly care options.
• Unpaid caregivers provide roughly
three-quarters of care for people who receive care at home in Canada.
• Caregiver tasks range from taking over
household duties to providing time-sensitive personal and medical care.
• Caregivers’ most common tasks fall into three
broad categories: emotional support, assistance with health and daily living,
and care management.
• Caregivers are often information and referral
specialists and systems navigators dealing with the health system, the housing
system and the legal system.
The 2017 report notes that, on average, unpaid
caregivers provide 20 hours per week of informal care and that replacing the
care they provide with care from paid caregivers would cost an estimated $3.5
billion in British Columbia. And the report warned that “31% of unpaid
caregivers are experiencing symptoms of distress such as anger, depression,
anxiety and sleep difficulties.” This number seemed low to audience members who
are or were caregivers.
Pitman also shared a sample of the resources
available for caregivers, including BC211, 8-1-1 HealthLinkBC, local Jewish and
other community support agencies, information and referral services, and
libraries. She encouraged caregivers to call the Family Caregivers of British
Columbia Caregiver Support Line (1-877-520-3267) if in need and highlighted the
United Way’s Better at Home, which can provide light housekeeping, minor house
repair, yard work and friendly visits. She offered audience members the 2016
publication United Way of the Lower Mainland’s Family & Friend
Caregivers Information and Resource Handbook. While acknowledging that it’s
somewhat out-of-date, she said it still contains much valuable information.
Shelley Civkin is a happily
retired librarian and communications officer. For 17 years, she wrote a weekly
book review column for the Richmond Review, and currently writes a
bi-weekly column about retirement for the Richmond News.
