Health Minister Adrian Dix laid out details in Victoria Wednesday for $354 million in funding over three years to expand programs to keep more seniors living at home.In a news conference at the James Bay Community Project, Dix said community-based seniors’ services, delivered by non-profit agencies, and home health services, delivered by regional health authorities, will be enhanced to benefit seniors and take pressure off long-term care and assisted-living homes.
The $354 million in funding includes $227 million over three years to improve home health services for more seniors. Dix said the province will add 900 more health-care workers over three years — 400 full-time equivalent positions for community-based professional services and more than 500 FTEs for home-support workers.
B.C. Seniors Advocate Isobel Mackenzie said the increased funding for services is both needed and welcome, but she has reservations as to how much it will help more seniors remain living independently in their homes. As part of the announcement on Wednesday, Dix said $127 million will be invested to stabilize and expand high-demand non-medical services that operate province-wide for seniors, such as the 93 Better at Home programs in B.C.
Additionally, the Family and Friend Caregiver Support Program — which helps caregivers navigate the system — and Therapeutic Activation Program for Seniors — which offers frail seniors daily and weekly phone calls, transportation to programs as well as nutritious meals, exercise and educational programs — will each expand by about six to seven program sites per year, starting in 2025-26.
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