Care Watch produces a highly regarded newsletter, SPEAKING UP/Speaking OUT, (formerly News & Views) which explores in-home and community care based issues and argues for improvements. The newsletter is received by over 1000 people and organizations. To read our most current issue, please click below.
Over the years, a number of our projects have resulted in reports and publications. We have looked at the efficacy of Home Care in the early days of the Community Care Access Centres, talked to “informal’ caregivers about their experiences, asked older people what they would need to successfully Age at Home among others.
Reports
Aging at Home Notes from Community
Behind Closed Doors (Full Report)
Home and Community Care in Canada: An Economic Footprint
Point of View: How to Pay for Homecare- Excerpt from the newsletter of the Canadian Health Network
SUPPORTIVE HOME CARE: A Pragmatic Proposal
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In The News
On Saturday October 6 2012 Sherri Torjman, Vice-President of the Caledon Institute of Social Policy, wrote an op-ed piece in the Toronto Star articulating some of the implications for home care as the Canadian population ages. She reiterates the well-known cost concerns that accompany most discussions of population aging. Home Care is usually proposed as one response because studies document that it is cost efficient and effective. Of course, these calculations do not include the costs that families bear (see Care Watch’s Pragmatic Proposal for a graphic presentation of these private costs). As more and more people embrace the idea of home care, how to finance it is seldom seriously considered. In this article Sherri points out that Canada has confined its use of social insurance to income security, while other countries have used it to finance home care. She also notes several other approaches that are in use. Importantly, she highlights that the funding issue has been addressed in other jurisdictions – it is not insolvable but it does require innovation and an active debate about alternatives. Care Watch, in our Pragmatic Proposal, raised very similar concerns. In the past year we have made numerous presentations to groups on the topic but have found that when it comes to debating new ways of funding home care people get nervous. Why are we so reluctant to consider options that have worked elsewhere? Thank you Sherri for raising this central home care issue in the media.
Home-Care Crunch Coming by Sherri Torjman of the Caledon Institute of Social Policy
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In response to: Aging with Dignity – Globe & Mail Editorial Sept. 9, 2012
“Care Watch also praises Susanna Lafarge for her generous gift to Mac Masters for the purpose of studying optimal aging. It holds promise for those of us who are aging and all the rest who will age. Care Watch has for many years promoted preventative options. Some of the innovative ideas described in the editorial are truly remarkable and perhaps life changing but, not for today.
The purpose Care Watch is to promote the development of early need, supportive home care which is easily assessable and consistent as has been shown empirically (Hollander and others) to reduce admission to hospital and long tern care, aiding optimal aging and economy. We have great trouble understanding why this piece of the puzzle is consistently missed by editorial writers and , indeed, the government”
- Charlotte Maher