Montreal – To address the growing long-term needs of Canada’s aging population, governments should expand community-based care instead of simply increasing the number of residential care beds, according to a new study by the Institute for Research on Public Policy.

Drawing on research in Ontario and abroad, Paul Williams and his coauthors examine some promising community-based rural and urban initiatives. They argue that if more community support is available, the tipping point at which patients with greater care needs require residential long-term care will be higher and, as a result, people will be able to stay at home longer.

In Ontario, for mostly political reasons, the response to growing care needs has primarily been to expand the supply of institutional long-term care beds. While the province pays about $160 a day for these beds, its funding for a supported housing place averages just over $30 a day.

“Unfortunately, the clear message is that governments are willing to pay considerably more to keep people in residential care beds than to allow them to remain in their own homes and communities,” says Williams.

In order to successfully meet the needs of Canada’s aging population, the authors argue that governments must fulfill three essential conditions. First, they should plan for “places” within a community-based care continuum, which includes supportive housing, attendant care, adult programs and home care. Second, they should establish the conditions that enable promising community-care initiatives to be replicated or expanded. Third, they should channel funds based on patients’ needs, rather than on the location of care.

“Setting a different course of action can be challenging. Legislation, regulations and funding mechanisms are difficult to change. But it can be done,” says Williams.

Integrating Long-Term Care into a Community-Based Continuum: Shifting from “Beds” to “Places,” by A. Paul Williams, Janet Lum, Frances Morton-Chang, Kerry Kuluski, Allie Peckham, Natalie Warrick and Alvin Ying, can be downloaded from the Institute’s website (irpp.org).

-30-

The Institute for Research on Public Policy is an independent, national, bilingual, not-for-profit organization based in Montreal. To receive updates from the IRPP, please subscribe to our e-mail list.

Media contact:    Shirley Cardenas    tel. 514-594-6877    scardenas@nullirpp.org