A group of Prince George seniors want less talk and more action from Northern Health.
After numerous meetings with Northern Health to discuss senior health and treatment issues, Lorna Dittmar, chair of the Prince George Council of Seniors advocacy committee, said it's time to quit asking questions and start doing something with the information gathered.
"They keep calling these meetings - I've personally attended three - and we're just discussing the same things over and over again," said Dittmar. "Yes, there's a need. Yes, I'm 71 and there's a whole whack of us coming up in this age group that's going to hit them. Seniors are saying they want a range of services when their number one priority is to stay at home for as long as they can. There needs to be enough home support workers in place to help with that and that has to be planned for."
Dittmar said she's looking for the plan that should come as a result of all the meetings and nothing's come of the efforts yet.
"We're looking for personal care, help to clean the house, shop for groceries, shovel the drive or sidewalk," said Dittmar, who was a former manager of AiMHi and Employment Action before running a seniors residence. "Each senior will have a different need, some might need someone to check on them or make sure they've taken their medications and that's a simple thing to do rather than moving them to a facility."
Ultimately, Dittmar would like to see an action plan in place for seniors.
"I want to hear that they heard us and here's what we're proposing," she added. "Where's the plan?"
Steve Raper, Northern Health communications director, said the end of one conversation is not the end of all conversation when it comes to gathering information about what seniors need in the north.
"We're going to keep having meetings with people because health changes and so do needs," Raper added. "We work hard to make sure that we are meeting with all our stakeholders on a regular basis, certainly informing them of what we're doing but also continuing to listen."
The series of meetings were held as part of Northern Health's 2013 board consultation and will frame the conversation between seniors and Northern Health for the next few years, Raper said.
"The objectives of this conversation was to gather information on healthy aging and seniors wellness and to hear those messages like how seniors can live in their homes longer and what are the services needed," said Raper. "We just can't get that information from one group, we needed to hear from the entire region and that's what we did. We spent the better part of the fall talking to individuals - not just seniors - but anybody from stakeholders and focus groups, through public consultation to engage them and find out what's working, what's not working, what their experiences are and then we recorded all the information."
A first draft of the report that is divided by community and region will be going to the Northern Health board for initial review on Monday, said Raper. It's too early to release to the public, he added, as there is still more work to be done.
"From that meeting it should move fairly quickly because we will then get their feedback, make their adjustments and changes and frame it with a timeline sooner rather than later," said Raper.
Once the report is completed, it will be available to the public, he added.
Big issues that came up during the many meetings weren't health related, noted Raper. Shoveling driveways and maintaining homes is not part of Northern Health's mandate.
"It became very clear that everyone has to work together and communities have a role, social agencies have a role, municipalities have a role, Northern Health has a role and we have to figure out a way to align all the work so seniors can be supported," said Raper. "We do know the longer we keep seniors healthy and well and living at home, the less of a burden it is on the system and the better it is for the senior."
