In the field of health, there are issues – like those caused by the pandemic – that we cannot see coming. There are others, however, which are quite predictable and therefore require preparation. The growing housing needs of seniors belong to the second category.
Posted yesterday at 9:00 a.m.
Over the next decade, we will experience a significant acceleration in population aging. In 2031, no less than 25% of the Quebec population will be 65 years of age or older. This is twice as many as at the turn of the 2000s. In absolute numbers, Quebec will have 2.3 million people over the age of 65 in 10 years; an increase of 500,000 compared to today. This trend, which has been known for a long time, will lead to major challenges.
In Quebec, when home support is no longer possible, seniors have the following options, depending on their state of health and their degree of autonomy: living in a private seniors’ residence (RPA), in an intermediate resource (IR) or in a long-term care center (CHSLD). To this offer will soon be added the development of seniors’ homes, where the government has undertaken to create 2,300 new places over five years. To give an idea of magnitude, before the start of the pandemic, more than 10,000 people were already waiting for a place in an RI or a CHSLD, according to the most recent report from the Health and Welfare Commissioner ( CSBE).
In short, despite the desirable and necessary increase in home support services, it is obvious that we will have to collectively accelerate the development of new residential places to meet the emerging, worrisome and soon glaring needs of the elderly.
Seniors’ homes and the amounts announced to renovate certain living environments are steps in the right direction. However, these measures are not enough. The math speaks for itself.
Unfortunately, to date, no medium and long-term planning has been presented by the government actors concerned. We still don’t know, for example, how many places can be developed in IR next year. We are navigating by sight, when the situation would require concerted, methodical, quantified and rigorous planning.
The Minister responsible for Seniors and Caregivers, Marguerite Blais, must present an action plan this spring to follow up on the Policy on accommodation and long-term care and services tabled in April 2021. We sincerely look forward to it. discover. That said, we would have liked this plan to be the subject of real collaborative work between all the partners involved in providing accommodation for our seniors, in order to pool our ideas and our expertise and thus offer living environments quality to all.
For two years, the daily management of the pandemic may have justified postponing this essential planning exercise, but here it is midnight minus one. A diversified housing offer rooted in the communities is the key to the well-being of our seniors. With this in mind, it is essential to plan now for the development of accommodation in all regions of Quebec, with all the partners concerned.
We owe it to the men and women who have shaped Quebec and who all deserve living environments worthy of what we would like to offer our parents.