Health spending | We have reached “a certain limit”, according to Minister Bélanger

(Montreal) The Legault government presented its plan on Friday morning to respond to the aging of the population. There are several key measures, but home support seems to be the foundation for ensuring quality of life for seniors.

The Commissioner of Health and Well-being, Joanne Castonguay, participated in a panel on home support alongside, among others, the Minister responsible for Seniors and Minister Responsible for Health, Sonia Bélanger. According to M^me Castonguay, the solution is not necessarily to invest more, but to better think about how the funding is spent.

“We have a responsibility so that all of our long-term services, but all health services, we ensure that funding becomes sustainable. And that means given all the challenges our society faces, we cannot continue to increase the dollars we allocate to health, we must use the funds better,” declared the Commissioner of Health and Welfare.

Minister Bélanger said she agreed with her. “You are absolutely right, it is not just by putting money in that we will achieve our results. We see it, we reach a certain limit, and therefore we must thoroughly revise the model and that is what we are going to do,” she said.

In her welcome speech, the minister highlighted the importance of home support. “The national policy will put in place the important elements to ensure that home support and the maintenance of people’s autonomy are something that is highlighted in Quebec and that it is significantly improved,” declared M^me Bélanger.

The Minister of Health, Christian Dubé, recognized that healthcare environments must adapt to the aging population and that clinical care is not always adapted. He touted his concept of mini-hospitals, which should resemble specialized geriatric clinics, to partly meet this need.

Mr. Dubé took the opportunity to send a message to the doctors’ federations. “In our great negotiations […] with medical federations such as the FMOQ and the FMSQ, are we capable of having the courage to rethink some of our fees, our pricing to better take into account the aging population, he said request. Could we ensure that different pricing for going to the home could be better adapted to promote home care?

“We are entering into negotiations with our federations and I think it is the right time to make these changes,” declared Mr. Dubé.

Minister Bélanger stressed that it is important to support seniors with a view to maintaining autonomy. “I will continue to invest my energies so that we continue on this path in order to see our success next year,” she said.

“Home support is a cornerstone of healthy aging at home, which is what all Quebecers want,” she continued.

She also announced that 15 million will be dedicated to the Financial Exemption Program for Domestic Help Services (PEFSAD), more precisely in social economy companies.

She also indicated that 20 social geriatrics projects will be funded to the tune of 6 million over three years, including six projects which are renewed and 14 new projects which will be distributed in 10 regions of Quebec. “We’re starting with that for year one”, we’ll continue for subsequent years,” announced M^me Bélanger.

Christine Labrie criticizes, FADOQ mixed

According to Minister Bélanger, “we know the solutions so that active aging can shine” in Quebec. She spoke about fighting ageism, ensuring that seniors can find affordable housing and promoting a return to work without financial penalty for those who wish to do so.

The government’s plan also mentions increasing accessibility to information and digital tools. Moreover, the Minister of Employment, Kateri Champagne Jourdain, announced that the 2024 edition of the Guide to Programs and Services for Seniors was now available online. This guide provides information to seniors, particularly on returning to work, but also on tax credits, transportation and home help.

Several panelists, including D^r Horacio Arruda, assistant deputy minister-prevention, promotion, planning and protection in public health, and the national director of public health, Luc Boileau, also highlighted the importance of preventive medicine and giving seniors the means to stay active.

During the presentation of the plan, the Minister of Municipal Affairs, Andrée Laforest, recalled that her ministry required the MRCs to have a development policy and government orientations in relation to seniors.

She mentioned the difficult context of the pandemic for the elderly and affirmed that it requires better planning for them. She said that if we were one day faced with another pandemic, “our seniors will have homes built differently, good sidewalks, natural parks in the municipalities”, recalling that municipalities have the obligation to determine parks adapted to elders.

Led by Minister Bélanger, the 2024-2029 government action plan “The Pride of Aging” is the result of a consultation of 34 ministries and organizations. All measures in the action plan are accompanied by indicators to monitor their application.

In a press release, the solidarity spokesperson responsible for the seniors’ file, Christine Labrie, noted shortcomings in the action plan.

She maintained that Minister Bélanger has identified the right areas of intervention, but she is concerned about the lack of information on the means that will be made available to all the ministers involved. “How much have we planned to ensure the mobility of seniors, when public transportation is in danger throughout Quebec, particularly outside major centers? How much will we make available to municipalities to adapt our public spaces? »

M^me Labrie asserts that the numerical measures are insufficient. “The plan aims to offer 40 million hours of home services in 2029, while the need is already 183 million hours. The government plans to build 4,000 affordable housing units adapted to the needs of seniors, while more than that is needed just in Montreal,” she said.

The FADOQ Network mentioned that the government’s plan included “many interesting and laudable objectives.” However, he remains cautious before applauding the initiative since he knows little about the amounts invested and how the measures will be deployed.

“We obviously welcome this intention since it is a priority for our organization. However, we do not know what it will contain and when it will be deployed,” responded Gisèle Tassé-Goodman, president of the FADOQ Network, in a press release.

She recalls that the government must better diversify living environments for seniors, in particular more housing cooperatives and non-profit organizations so that the less fortunate also have access to environments that meet their needs.

Housing and road safety

The Minister responsible for Housing, France-Élaine Duranceau, said her Bill 65 should be adopted next week. It provides for a three-year moratorium on evictions, for everyone, and additional protections for seniors, including lowering the threshold from 70 to 65 to protect an elderly tenant from a repossession or a eviction.

There is a lack of housing for everyone and all types of housing, the minister recognized. According to her, structural changes must be made in ecosystems to respond to the housing crisis. To illustrate her point, she spoke of the “powers” ​​that Quebec has granted to cities so that they can deviate from their zoning regulations and thus build more quickly.

“We can put “plaster” on many things, but the real solution is increasing the supply of housing,” she stressed. She said 10,000 units were in planning at the moment and 5,000 under construction in Quebec.

As for aspects affecting road safety, they are found in the law aimed at modifying the Highway Safety Code. The Minister of Transport and Sustainable Mobility, Geneviève Guilbault, believes that by “embedding” elements of her law in the action plan on aging, the government is sending “an even stronger signal”.

“We will all arrive one day at a time when we will have specific needs, not only in health, not only in housing, but also in mobility. So we must immediately begin this vast project of having a network which is designed accordingly and which is compatible with the needs which arise as society evolves,” declared Mr.^me Guilbault.

She recalled that people aged 65 and over are over-represented in the toll of pedestrians who die on the road network. On average between 2018 and 2022, 45% of pedestrians who died were aged 65 and over, while this represented 21% of the population in 2021.

M^me Guilbault said she was aware that her objective would not be achieved by shouting scissors. “Making security arrangements everywhere that will allow us to move around in complete comfort and safety will take time, but at least it is well and truly started,” she said.

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