That stark picture isn't as bad as it sounds, though. While the health-care system will become increasingly pressured, there's been a growing philosophical as well as practical emphasis in recent years on home care as an alternative to high-cost institutionalized care.
A Health Council of Canada report released early this year – "Fixing the Foundation" – was applauded by the Canadian Home Care Association (CHCA) for its reaffirmation of federal commitment to home-based care. "The integration of primary health-care and home-care services is essential to providing quality care in the community," says CHCA executive director Nadine Henningsen, in a press release responding to the report. "Home care expands the reach of primary health-care teams and supports physicians and their patients to access and navigate the health-care system."
Indeed, the demand – and preference – for home-based care has been enormous. CHCA notes on its website that "from 1970, when Ontario first established a publicly funded home-care program, to 1988 when all provinces and territories supported publicly funded programs, home care has become a critical component of the health system. The number of home-care recipients has increased by almost 100 per cent from 1995 to 2006, to reach an estimated one million Canadians."
One result of this trend has been the creation of a variety of programs aimed at helping all chronically ill or disabled persons – not just retirees – remain within their homes and communities as long as possible.
Demands on caregivers
However, the trend towards home-based care has resulted in a growing burden for informal caregivers, usually other family members, with sometimes distressing results.
According to a recent Statistics Canada study called "Balancing Career and Care," more than 1.7 million Canadian adults aged 45 to 64 provided informal care to almost 2.3 million seniors who had long-term disabilities or physical limitations. Of those caregivers, most were employed, and many of them, especially those working full-time, felt they were being pulled in many directions. A large number of these people reported feelings of guilt because they believed they should have been doing more to help, or should have been doing better at their jobs. More than 40 per cent of women who provided over one hour of care a week reported "substantial" feelings of guilt.
These feelings intensified in direct proportion to their paid hours worked. Those providing four hours or more of care per week were more likely to reduce their work hours, change their work patterns or turn down a job offer or promotion. Among this group, 65 per cent of women and 47 per cent of men who were working more than 40 hours a week were substantially affected.
Page 2 of 4 -- Find out how you can plan ahead to avoid unnecessary demands on caregivers on page 3.
