CURAC’s Position on Protecting the Elderly

From the CURAC website

The pandemic, with its catastrophic impact on long-term care facilities, has made a national seniors strategy crucial. The CURAC/ARUCC Health Care Policy Committee has released its latest bulletin on strategies for an aging population.

The report, Strategies for an Aging Population: Maintaining Independence (on their website: https://curac.ca), is an overview of the ongoing discussions in Canada, with links to many useful studies. Key points:

• Since aging in place is the first choice of most older adults, it is important to identify and campaign for the necessary supports and services, which are inadequate in most parts of the country
• Identifying the key components of positive health - physical and cognitive - and making them a priority is vital
• Health promotion is crucial, and governments have not embraced this task to its potential, particularly for seniors
• The goal is "not only to add years to our life but life to our years"
• Effective health promotion involves not only lifestyle but also the social determinants of health
• Healthy eating, living with purpose, staying active, and family and community involvement all promote healthy aging
• Appropriate housing is essential, along with necessary community supports: home care and financial security, as well as supportive housing options for vulnerable seniors
• With 93% of Canadian seniors living in private households, the integration of home and community care deserves high priority
• There is a need for restorative care that helps seniors regain strength, endurance and functioning after an illness so they can continue to age in place

The CURAC/ARUCC Board urges members to support the Demand a Plan initiative of the Canadian Medical Association (check out the website at http://demandaplan.ca).