The Ultimate Resource Guide
for Canadian Seniors
A Live & Interactive Website ... eldercarecanada
Section 1
Section 2
Section 3
Section 4
Section 5
Section 6
Section 7
Section 8
Section 9
Nutritional Supplements for Seniors
Section 10
Seniors Associations in Canada
From The Desk Of: Cathy Skinner
Date:
The greatest gift you can ever give or receive is the gift of knowledge. Canadian Seniors are very important to me. It is all about eldercarecanada solutions! As you read my story below, you will come to know why this subject is important to me, and should be for you. Canadian seniors are the fastest growing demographic in Canada. Eldercare services for Canadian Seniors (which I call my website eldercarecanada), as well as Eldercare resourses, are becoming even more important but are not easy to find.
This is my gift to you ... eldercarecanada for Canadian Seniors ...
Cathy
PS - Please share this site with others
... 
"What would you do if you were suddenly thrust
into the role of caregiver for a sick or aging family member? "
Like myself and many other baby boomers with aging parents, you may have already had to confront this difficult reality. Do you know where to turn for home health care or where to look for eldercare solutions, services and resourses? This is why I built this site. To provide information about eldercare solutions and Canadian seniors. This is what eldercarecanada is all about!
Fact - Between 1981 and 2005, the number of Canadian Seniors increased from 2.4 million to 4.2 million. Their share of the total population jumped from 9.6% to 13.1%. Full details Section 1
It's cliché, but true: overnight, life can change completely. In my own case, I had worked in the health care field for over 20 years, but nothing could ever have prepared me the challenges that would lie ahead. There were no eldercare solutions for what I faced!
For years, my Dad had battled the affects of COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease). Although he was fragile, he was under the constant loving care of my Mom. Sure, every now and then, my siblings and I would have to intervene and support Mom when dad was too stubborn to heed her advice and seek medical attention.
And then, life would served up a couple of curveballs. First, a chest x-ray taken during my Mom's annual physical exam revealed a lung tumour. We were mystified at how such a diagnosis could befall a vibrant and healthy person. This couldn't happen to my Mom, she was healthy, never smoked.
Fact - Disability rates increase with age, rising from 31% in those aged 65-74, to 53% in the 75+ age group (2001). The overall disability rate for Canadian Seniors aged 65 and over is 40.5%. Full Details in Section 2
Even so, following the initial successful surgery, Mom's prognosis was very hopeful, and it seemed that she might fully recover.
Instead, the second dose of tragic news was delivered a mere six months later. I remember the circumstances vividly: I had taken Mom to Toronto with me for the day - and had noticed immediately how her vigour had diminished. Her bright demeanour and lively step was a shadow of the woman I knew. And, for the first time in my memory, she could not keep up with me.
Upon returning home later that day, I called her physician and asked that she be seen without delay. He graciously agreed, and within an hour's time we were en route to the hospital. Tests revealed awful news: a brain tumor this time - entirely unrelated to her previous lung tumor. And this time around, the battle would be desperate and certain eldercare solutions would be sought, but not found.
As our family attempted to meet the challenges of managing the care of two ailing parents, we quickly realized what a difficult maze the health care system was to navigate and how simple eldercare solutions were non existant. Even with my connections in the health care field, there were many times when the complexities and gaps in the process caused us to stumble. If this was true for us, what must it be like for those who lacked a close friend or family member to act as an advocate? Do you see a need for a website like this? To provide information about eldercare solutions and services in Canada?
One particular occasion really brought this fact home to me. My Mom was sharing a hospital room with a woman who was clearly very ill, and had no friend or loved one at her side. After observing me interacting with Mom's nurses and doctors for a time the woman said: "Does your mother know how lucky she is to have you? Would she consider renting you out?"
Fact - The number of beds required in long-term health care facilities could rise from the 184,000 required in 1996/97 to almost 746,000 in 2031. And there's a shortage today! Full Details in Section 7
Given my Mom's dire situation, I had never considered her fortunate. But the plaintive plea of this poor woman made me understand, for the first time, how incredibly difficult and lonely it must be to be gravely ill and have no support. It was that day I decided to somehow try to lend a helping hand to those in similar circumstances - to assist others in some fashion - even if I couldn't be everyone else's daughter and patient advocate.
Mom's long ordeal finally ended in 1994, as she had wished, at home surrounded by her loved ones and family. Dad would survive another six years with a very diminished quality of life. During the years since Dad's death I have often thought of that lonely woman sharing my Mom's hospital room, and have puzzled over what I might do to ease the burdens of those like her, and the many thousands of families who face these difficult tasks that once were my reality.
These experiences are the foundation for this book, which provides you with a broad catalogue of medical information resources, links and other eldercare solutions that will help you navigate the system as you search for answers to guide your own course, or that of a loved one. A resourse guide for Canadian seniors, hence this site: eldercarecanada! I hope that it will be a resource of information for you, and that you and your family may benefit from the knowledge we gained during our own struggle. Perhaps it will help relieve you, if only a little, of the burden of countless late night hours of research we endured, as we poured over available options, struggled to understand complex government assistance programs, and at times felt quite lost.
Fact - 137,000 Canadian seniors were eligible in 2003 for the GIS (Guaranteed Income Supplement) but did not receive it. The value of these forgone supplements was estimated to be $204 million in 2003. These seniors also forfeited all other benefits provided by provinces or territories that use the status of GIS recipient as an eligibility criterion. Full Details in Section 4
My gift to you ... Canadian Seniors ... eldercarecanada