B.C. expanding services to better support seniors

B.C.’s health minister says the province is expanding services to better support seniors who choose to live in their own homes.

Adrian Dix announced Wednesday the B.C. government is doing this by bringing in more health-care workers and increasing funding for community-based projects that focus on assisting seniors at home.

“All of these investments mean more seniors will be empowered to age with dignity in the comfort of their own homes, where everyone wants to be, closer to their families and loved ones,” he said.

The three-year $354-million investment was detailed in the 2024 budget.

The funding includes $227 million to add 900 new health-care providers to the workforce to support seniors at home. These will include full-time equivalent positions in community-based services and home-support workers.

The province says the expansion will improve overnight response, and give seniors “more access to comprehensive and responsive care.”

Funding will also go to “stabilize and expand high-demand services” across B.C., such as those that provide seniors with non-medical support like day-to-day tasks.

“With more seniors opting to live at home longer, we believe that means less demand than there would otherwise be for services such as long-term care, alleviating pressures in those aspects of the health-care system,” Dix said.

The province notes the senior population has and continues to grow in B.C., from 17.7 per cent in 2017-18 to 19.6 per cent in 2023-24. It projects 21.7 per cent of people in this province will be 65 and older by 2035.

Just last month, the B.C. and federal governments signed an agreement to invest $733 million into aged-care services in the province over five years. The Aging with Dignity Agreement is meant to help expand home and community care services, improve the availability of palliative and end-of-life care, and improve the quality of long-term care services, the Ministry of Health said on Feb. 12.