Even though its motto is “I remember”, Quebec often dooms reports and recommendations on tragedies that have occurred over the years to oblivion. We believe that a recent assessment of the pandemic, drawn directly from the experiences of seniors, will be an exception.
Entitled Older perspectives on the pandemic, this report is the work of 11 seniors gathered within the Citizen Council of the Montreal Senior Resilience Network (RRAM). The signatories are part of the population that has been hardest hit by the pandemic. For the first time, these senior voices are heard on the subject and formulate concrete proposals for the future.
Established in March 2020, the RRAM aims to promote the inclusion, social participation and resilience of seniors. To achieve this, it channels the efforts of several partners: the City of Montreal, the Little Brothers, the Coalition for Community Maintenance, the Fédération de l’âge d’or du Québec and the Seniors’ Table de concertation from the island of Montreal. The Regional Public Health Department of the CIUSSS du Centre-Sud-de-l’Île-de-Montréal is responsible for coordination.
From the outset, a few senior citizens were associated with the development of RRAM projects. To take this innovative approach to co-construction even further, the Citizen Council was created. Since October 2021, seniors with diverse profiles, living in different neighborhoods of the metropolis, have been meeting to reflect on the challenges of aging.
Based on these exchanges, the Citizen Council was able to enrich RRAM’s projects. After a few months of existence, it widened its area of influence by delegating members to two conferences on urban health. This participation of seniors in events where important themes for their daily lives were discussed undoubtedly inspired the Direction régionale de la Santé publique de Montréal. Subsequently, its director, the DD Mylène Drouin, decided to consult the Citizen Council to take stock of the pandemic and plan best practices for the future.
In response to four questions, the Citizen Council identified the successes and innovations that have made it possible to mitigate the undesired impacts of health measures. He pointed out the mistakes that should never be made again in another health emergency. He also suggested ways to tighten the safety net around seniors and make our communities more resilient. Finally, he put forward ideas for integrating seniors in any process of creating policies and solutions to better deal with future emergencies.
Based on these observations, the Citizen Council formulated 16 recommendations accompanied by concrete courses of action. We point out four that seem urgent. The first two because they will facilitate the implementation of all the others, and the other two because they concern critical situations in private seniors’ residences.
Fight against ageism: It would obviously be difficult to improve the living conditions of seniors without fighting against ageism. This is why the Citizen Council proposes to act on all levels to create intergenerational solidarity.
Integrating seniors into decision-making: Involving seniors in the development, implementation and evaluation of health and other public policies is a way of recognizing their valuable role in our communities and a way essential to deconstructing ageist prejudices. In anticipation of future emergencies, the Citizens’ Council therefore recommends involving seniors and community organizations from the outset in the procedures related, among other things, to the Health Emergency Plan and the Regional Action Plan. integrated (IRAP) public health.
Adapt health measures to senior populations: During the pandemic, some private seniors’ residences (RPA) imposed excessive confinement measures that harmed the physical and mental health of their residents. During future emergencies, the Conseil recommends applying protective measures that take into account the diversity of vulnerable conditions of seniors.
Preserve collective living environments for seniors: Alarmed by the increasing number of closures and sales of RPAs, the Citizen Council wishes to obtain lasting solutions to preserve the stability and quality of these collective living environments. It therefore proposes various actions: creating permanent independent evaluation committees for RPAs; include, in the RPA allocation contract, the prohibition to modify the residence during the sale; and add a pre-emption clause on the sale giving a municipality or the government of Quebec the priority of purchase in order to preserve the specialized real estate vocation of the RPA.
The Citizens’ Council now intends to exert pressure to obtain the implementation of the 4 urgent recommendations and the examination of the 12 others contained in its report. Older perspectives on the pandemic demonstrates that far from being a demographic, budgetary or health problem, seniors constitute an important pool of knowledge, experience and ingenious solutions when the necessary measures are taken to enable them to promote them.
In this period of labor shortage and climate crisis that we are going through, Quebec cannot and must not deprive itself of this contribution. Ultimately, seniors want to continue to be stakeholders in our society, in short, to live a citizen old age. And the RRAM Citizen Council is there to remind you!
* The other members of the Citizen Council also signed this article: Raphaël Assor, Odette Bourdon, Josette Bourque, Bruce Cameron, Marie Cantin, France Cardinal Remete, Michel Guenette,
Denise Veilleux, Bernadette Mwauka.