Aging in place is a big priority for seniors. They think it should be for politicians, too

Roberta George knows she's one of the lucky ones.

She lives in a downtown Fredericton home that she shared with her late husband for more than 50 years. She loves downtown living and has carried on enjoying the house, thanks to some renovations they did a few years ago. 

George said they built an addition to the back, adding a bathroom and a primary bedroom, so that the stairs were no longer necessary after her husband had a couple of major operations. She's also benefited from the changes, after a recent knee replacement.  

"It's our home. It's always been our home," she said. "My husband was a wonderful husband and friend to many. I want to stay here where all my memories are."

She's lucky to have lots of family nearby and nice neighbours who check on her. But she knows many others aren't as fortunate, and said "it's a sad day for a lot of them" when they have to leave their home. 

Nearly one in four New Brunswickers are aged 65 or older. And if you ask a senior what their biggest concern is, living arrangements would typically top the list. 

But there are more than a few barriers for people hoping to keep their independence as their health declines. And accessibility is a big one.

Justin Doran hears that a lot. He's a contractor in Keswick Ridge, near Fredericton. He started Ridge Seniors Home Maintenance two years ago with a focus on helping seniors retrofit their homes. He had no idea just how busy he would quickly become. 

"I was very surprised," he said. "I knew there was a need for it, but I didn't know there was this much of a need."

Lining up a contractor is one thing. But Doran says the seniors he works for face another challenge: paying for the work.

There are provincial and federal programs out there to help and he has those links on his website. But Doran said they are so cumbersome that his clients often have trouble just filling out the forms. 

When they do qualify, it can take months to process the application, which covers only a fraction of the work. It's an overwhelming process, even for the simplest of jobs, he said.

"In some cases it's bringing the washer and dryer up on the main level or installing hand rails. Some projects are so little, but they need them desperately just to be able to function day-to-day."

Doran would like to see the province make it easier for seniors to access that support by eliminating red tape and fast-tracking payments so people aren't backed into a corner.

"There's definitely fear in seniors out there because they see the price of labour and contractors go up. And with their fixed income not going up, it's definitely a huge challenge for them. And I can tell by the clients that I talked to, they're overwhelmed, they're stressed, they're scared. And they would like a solution."

Back in March, the province's seniors' advocate released a report entitled, What We All Want, outlining his solution, calling for urgent action in long-term care. 

Kelly Lamrock and his team spoke with hundreds of New Brunswickers, including more than 50 experts, to come up with a number of recommendations on how to improve the current system. 

Among other things, it found that "in-home supports are by far the least costly intervention moving up through the system, and yet home support is hard to access due to the current model that incentivizes institutional care."

In fact, it found that 20 per cent of seniors in residential care settings are only prevented from aging in place due to a lack of availability or access to community supports or programs.

The report said that "aging at home is not only what seniors desire … but also that there are multiple downstream benefits both to the community and to the healthcare system overall," including alleviating unnecessary strain on emergency and hospital infrastructure.

Ken McGeorge knows these issues well. He spent more than 50 years working in health and long-term care in three different provinces. He was also one of 11 advisory committee members who contributed to the report. 

He often hears from elders and their families about how "unbelievably and unnecessarily complicated" it is, trying to access proper care. But he said it doesn't have to be that difficult.

McGeorge wants to see the next provincial government gather a group of experts, or "rock stars" as he says, to dive into Lamrock's report and "create a plan based on expertise" and commit to doing it by Christmas, or by spring.

And he wants to see it addressed by people who know, and who really understand.

"Politicians don't, civil servants don't," he said.

Liberal Susan Holt released a plan recently aimed at seniors and their families. Some of those promises include increasing wages for personal support workers, and expanding a program called Nursing Homes Without Walls, which puts more supports in place to help seniors stay at home longer.

Green Party Leader David Coon also said he wants to expand the Nursing Homes Without Walls program and would roll out an effective dementia strategy, which he said the Liberals and PCs both promised and failed to deliver. 

Progressive Conservative Leader Blaine Higgs wasn't made available to talk about the recommendations, or what his government would do to support seniors if re-elected. 

As for Roberta George, she said it would make her "heart feel good" if the next government would take action and step in to provide this type of support for those in need.

She wants to see seniors have peace of mind and good care.