Friday, November 29, 2013
Helping More People Get the Care They Need at Home
Ontario Improving Access to Home and Community Care in the Champlain LHIN
November 29, 2013 - Seniors and residents in the Champlain LHIN are receiving better access to home care and community supports to help them live independently and at home longer.
Ontario is providing over $23.7 million to boost home care for more seniors and for expanded community health care services, including mental health supports, in the Champlain LHIN.
This investment will strengthen programs that reduce unnecessary emergency room and hospital readmissions.
Twenty-five programs serving thousands of new clients are receiving new, annual funding. For the full list, please see the backgrounder. Here are four examples.
- Expansion of Adult Day Programs to provide part-of-the-day supervised programming in group settings for dependent adults, such as the frail elderly, individuals with dementia, and those with disabilities. This investment will serve 156 more people every year.
- Expansion of Assisted-Living Services for high-risk seniors to provide personal support and homemaking on a 24-hour basis, along with urgent-call response and care coordination. In fact, 160 more people will obtain services annually due to this investment.
- Expansion of the First Link Program, which serves individuals newly diagnosed with dementia, their families and caregivers. The program, which helps people obtain information and connects them with services, will support 704 more people each year.
- Expansion of the Going Home Program which enables hospitals and community-based agencies to work together to discharge clients from hospital safely. It provides at-home services to clients for a 10-day period after hospital discharge. The funding will expand the services to reach 750 more clients.
Improving access to home care and community supports is a key priority of Ontario’s Action Plan for Health Care and helps to provide the right care, at the right time, in the right place. This is part of the Ontario government's economic plan to invest in people and infrastructure, and support a dynamic and innovative business climate.
The investment will also help advance the LHIN’s Integrated Health Service Plan which supports healthy people and healthy communities through a quality, accessible health system.
QUOTES
“We are investing our health care dollars in services that help Champlain LHIN residents get the care they need at the right time, in the right place. This means better access to quality and timely care for patients, and especially our seniors.” - John Fraser, MPP, Ottawa South
“Providing seniors with more timely access to health care in their homes and communities ensures our health care system works better for everyone, improving access for all who need care, where they need it.” - Deb Matthews, Minister of Health and Long-Term Care
“These are the type of investments that are transforming the health system and improving the lives of individuals and families. The Champlain LHIN is working closely with our partners to expand programs and put in place new initiatives that address the needs of communities across our region. This work is well aligned to our key strategy of building a strong foundation of primary, home and community care.” - Chantale LeClerc, CEO, Champlain LHIN
QUICK FACTS
- Champlain is Ontario’s easternmost LHIN, and has a population of 1.2 million.
- In 2011-12, the Champlain LHIN allocated $2.38 billion.
- Over the next 20 years, the population of seniors aged 65 and over in Ontario will more than double from 1.9 million today to 4.2 million in 2036.
- More than 48,000 people were getting home care last year in the Champlain region.
- These initiatives to improve care for seniors have had a positive impact. In September 2013, seniors in Champlain spent 3,488 fewer days waiting in hospital for community service, compared to two years previously.
- It is estimated that one in six Champlain residents has a mental health or substance abuse disorder (16%) with higher rates among youth and young adults.
LEARN MORE
Ontario’s Action Plan for Health Care
Ontario’s Action Plan for Seniors
Dr. Samir Sinha’s report Living Longer, Living Well
Source: Champlain Local Health Integration Network
Email: champlain@lhins.on.ca
Website: www.champlainlhin.on.ca
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