It is with consternation that we read Anne Plourde’s remarks, published in The Press of November 23. This takes the financial difficulties of Groupe Sélection as a pretext to discredit the contribution of private residences for seniors (RPA) to the better aging of Quebecers. His remarks, full of dubious amalgams and erroneous assertions, leave us speechless.
From the outset, M.me Plourde takes a dangerous intellectual shortcut by affirming that “this affair (Réseau Sélection) highlights the risks of entrusting a private industry with the responsibility of providing care and services that are often essential for the elderly”. His speech suggests that housing for seniors is the responsibility of the state and that RPAs house seniors who should instead be taken care of by the Quebec government. However, such a prospect is quite unrealistic.
It is important to understand that the responsibility of the Quebec state is to take care of the health and safety of citizens and not to house them. All the more so when these people are independent, regardless of their age.
Those who live in RPA have chosen to make it their home according to their tastes, their expectations and their means. Satisfaction surveys show, year after year, that some 95% of seniors living in RPA are happy with their choice and recommend it. The vast majority of the 160,000 seniors who live in RPAs are completely independent and the simple fact of insinuating that all of them require care demonstrates a clear misunderstanding of the RPA sector and the seniors who live there. To associate illness with old age is unfortunately ageism. And not recognizing the ability of older people to freely choose the living environment that suits them is a lack of respect for these people. It is also an attack on the freedom of choice which is a fundamental right of each of us, regardless of our age.
Does the Quebec state help certain seniors to be able to continue to live at home by assuming part of the costs related to the care provided to them by RPA personnel? Absolutely and fortunately for these people since this collaboration between the public and the private sector allows them to live longer in the home they have chosen, thus delaying and sometimes even avoiding their transfer to a CHSLD or hospital.
Let’s not forget that there is currently a shortage of thousands of places in CHSLDs and that seniors’ homes will not be enough to meet the growing demand in the years to come.
The public sector simply does not have sufficient financial and material capacities (hospitals, CHSLDs, manpower) to fulfill its mission of ensuring the health of older Quebecers who are losing their autonomy. The public sector therefore needs the private sector (RPA) to serve the aging population of Quebec.
The reality is that 37,000 people will be added to the cohort of people over 75 every year for the next two decades. Already, 20% of this segment of the Quebec population lives in RPA, by choice. All the people who work at the heart of the health sector recognize that despite all its good will, the State cannot face the demographic tsunami that Quebec will have to face alone. The only way to achieve this lies in even closer collaboration between the public and private sectors through the optimization of available resources and expertise in the service of better aging.
No offense to some, the time is over for philosophical debates about which of the private and public sectors is the most deserving. The time has come for collaboration, for complementary expertise and for pooling available resources in order to respect the life choices legitimately made by older people. The government knows very well that RPAs are essential partners for both the present and the future. The tens of thousands of people who work in RPA are happy and proud to work together with both the public sector and private sector resources to advance solutions that benefit older people across Quebec. We ask only to extend this collaboration to the benefit of older people.