According to BC Seniors Poverty Report Card, the poverty rate of BC seniors has, once again, become the highest throughout Canada. Within Canada, BC senior poverty rate has been highest for three years in a row now and this is one of the main causes of health inequality for BC seniors (United Way Lower Mainland, 2018). BC has been supporting the “Home is Best” philosophy, which encourages seniors to return home and rely community support to assist with daily chores and care (Vancouver Coastal Health, 2015). Unfortunately, with the current resource limitations, staying home is not as easy and affordable as it sounds. With the current health care system, accessing subsidized care and housing entails a lot more complications.
BC’s current health care system lacks adequate coverage towards the matter of senior’s home support, residential care, prescription drug, vision and dental care. All these fees are payed by the individual themselves. In addition, BC living expenses are on the rise (Ivanova, Daub, Cohen & Jenkins, 2017).
Not every senior in BC is mortgage free and owns a home; One in five BC seniors rent in terms of accommodation and 42% of these senior renters experience “Core Housing Needs” (Ivanova et al., 2017). Core Housing Needs are defined as houses that meet the following standards:
Houses that do not require any major repairs
Rent is less than 30%
Adequate amount of rooms and size
With the above mentioned resource limitation, seniors have to hire private care and support to sustain their needs. Senior in poverty experiences hardship in paying for rents already, hiring private care on top is nearly impossible therefore, senior in poverty have problems meeting their desire health care needs. In BC, one in ten BC seniors experience neglect in health care due to poverty; this is unacceptable as this vulnerable population should deserve better at such an age (Ivanova et al., 2017).
To improve poverty rate and help this vulnerable group, first, BC government should start to adopt the Poverty Reduction Plan which is a comprehensive plan that outlines recommendations to help with people in poverty. Secondly, home and community support services should be improved so seniors are enabled to access support hours. Thirdly, increase CPP and Old Age income support for seniors in need and last, limit housing expenses as this is a major issue for all generation (Ivanova et al., 2017).
References:
Ivanova, I., Daub, S., Cohen, M., & Jenkins, J. (2017). Poverty and Inequality Among British Columbia’s Seniors. Retrieved from: https://www.policyalternatives.ca/sites/default/files/uploads/publications/BC%20Office/2017/04/ccpa-bc_seniors-inequality.pdf
United Way Lower Mainland. (2018). B.C. seniors’ poverty rate highest in Canada. Retrieved from: https://www.uwlm.ca/news/bc-seniors-poverty-report-card/
Vancouver Coastal Health. (2015). What does "Home is Best Mean?". Retrieved from: http://vchnews.ca/news/2015/04/15/what-does-home-is-best-mean/#.XJUZQyhKhPY
Comentários