New Brunswickers face average 2-month wait for long-term care assessments, survey finds
New Brunswick Health Council releases 2024 Home Care Survey
The average wait for a long-term care assessment in New Brunswick is 67 days, while the average wait to receive home support services is another 76 days, according to a new survey from the New Brunswick Health Council.
"Long wait times may lead to negative impacts on quality of life, deterioration of health, and hospitalizations," notes the report entitled Aging at Home: Access and Experience with Home Care Services in New Brunswick, which was released Tuesday.
People might end up in the emergency department, or tying up acute hospital beds while they wait for home care or other continuing care services — so-called alternate level of care patients.
They might resort to private in-home services that cost them out-of-pocket, or have to rely more heavily on informal caregivers, such as family and friends, said CEO Stéphane Robichaud.
With the province's aging population, the need for publicly funded home services is only going to increase, he said.
"So among the main findings [of the 2024 Home Care Survey] is we have work to do around the evaluation process in assessing if people will qualify for long-term care or not."
Informal caregivers need support
The needs of informal caregivers also requires more attention, said Robichaud.
"It would be impossible for publicly funded services to meet the needs of this population if not for the informal caregivers," he said, citing an increased reliance on them.
But they currently have "little to no support."
"We're hearing about people who have either dropped their studies, some have stopped working in order to do this full-time. For many, it can be seven days a week, 24 hours a day. Some people use their vacation time while they're working," Robichaud said.
"So not everyone's in the same situation, but there's a growing number of these individuals, normal caregivers, that actually need some help themselves."
That could include everything from some respite so they get a break, to help navigating what services are available, he said.
23% of population seniors, most with health issues
Aging at home is one of the pillars of the provincial health plan.
As it stands, 23 per cent of the population is 65 years of age or older. Of those, almost 90 per cent reported being diagnosed with or treated for one or more chronic health conditions, and more than one-third reported having three or more chronic health conditions.
By 2030, the percentage of New Brunswickers aged 65 or older is expected to increase to nearly 28 per cent.
There are two types of publicly funded home care services in New Brunswick: the extra-mural program's home health services under Extra-Mural/Ambulance New Brunswick, which are medical services managed by Medavie Health Services New Brunswick, and the non-medical home support services under the Department of Social Development, such as help with bathing, dressing, housekeeping and meal preparation.
The health council conducts the home care survey every three years. This one was conducted in March and April of 2024, with more than 6,000 respondents.
Waits vary by region
It found the wait times for services differ, depending on where someone lives and the type of services they need.
For extra-mural services, for example, the median wait times for nursing services were shortest, at about two days across all regions, while the waits for rehabilitation services were longest, ranging from nine days in the Moncton region, Zone 1, to 22 days in the Edmundston region, Zone 4.
For other types of services, such as speech language pathology, respiratory therapy or registered dietitian services, the median wait time ranged from about four days to a week.
The baseline wait time from referral to services is three days and the target is one day, according to the report.
But some people face "much longer wait times" for extra-mural services, "resulting in impacts to their health," the report says.
"Fell in May. [Doctor] referral in June. Did not see [Extra Mural Program] until [November]," one survey respondent wrote. "[Five]-month wait with continued falls and mobility issues."
Another wrote, "Having difficulty getting in touch; someone [should] increase [their] service hours."
Under the long-term care program, which includes home support services, the average wait for an assessment ranged from 30 days in the Miramichi region, Zone 7, to 106 days in the Saint John region, Zone 2.
Meanwhile, the average wait to receive home services ranged from 45 days in the Campbellton region, Zone 5, to 107 days in the Saint John region, Zone 2.
Once people do receive services, they report positive experiences, said Robichaud, especially in communication, sharing of information and co-ordination of care.
According to the survey, 97 per cent of people who received extra-mural program services gave it a favourable rating, while 89 per cent of people who used home support services gave it a positive rating.
Still, some said more could be done, said Robichaud. For about six per cent of the extra-mural clients and about 15 per cent of those who receive home support services through Social Development, the two key themes were the types of services or the duration of services, he said.
Opportunities for improvements
The Department of Health recognizes there are "opportunities to make improvements," said spokesperson Sean Hatchard.
These include timely access to care, reducing dependency on hospitals, and improving integration with other community-based services, he said in an emailed statement.
The department will continue to work closely with Extra-Mural/Amublance New Brunswick and the Department of Social Development on initiatives to "help New Brunswickers receive the care and services they require to stay in their home and maintain their health and independence in the community," Hatchard said.
Ginette Pellerin, vice-president of operations for Medavie's extra-mural program, said they are constantly collecting and monitoring data regarding their services and have noticed increased acuity levels among the patients it serves.
This leads to "increased demand for our services and an increased complexity in the care we provide," she said in an emailed statement.
The program is working to decrease the length of time between referrals and care being provided by increasing and optimizing human resources, said Pellerin. For rehabilitation services, for example, it has added staff to its rehabilitation teams across the province, and recruited more administrative support to help maximize health-care providers' time with patients, she said.
The Department of Social Development did not provide comments Tuesday.