Seniors and vulnerable people | Construction sites and a reinforced team for Sonia Bélanger

(Quebec) Faced with the “colossal” task of improving the supply of services to seniors, Minister Sonia Bélanger is adding a second parliamentary assistant to her team to deliver results on the ground and thus prevent “the risk” of not respecting her commitments. Overview of construction sites.

Palliative care training

Nancy Guillemette is recruited to lead the palliative care dossier. As parliamentary assistant, the MNA for Roberval has been given the mandate to correct the inequity in the provision of end-of-life care, exacerbated by the pandemic. Quebec wants to review the training programs for caregivers and doctors in the fall and break down “prejudices”. “It’s not easy to recruit. We think we’re just working with dying people. You have to discover all the beauty behind it, ”she illustrates. After the death of Robert Bourassa’s widow, Andrée Simard, the College of Physicians admitted that there is “confusion” about the different aspects of end-of-life care. Work will also be done with professional orders and the education network.

Medical assistance in dying: actions this summer

Minister Sonia Bélanger succeeded in getting Bill 11 passed in June, which expands access to medical assistance in dying. She promises an action plan to reduce the controversial 24-month deadline, set in the new law, for the entry into force of advance requests for medical assistance in dying. “We are already in action,” she pleaded in an interview. Practice guides, protocols and training will be developed this summer. Exchanges also continue with the federal government to “harmonize” the Criminal Code, which does not provide for exceptions for advance requests. She will also be supported by Nancy Guillemette, who will “accompany” the palliative care homes which now have the obligation to offer this ultimate care.

Caregivers: targeted measures

MP Marilyne Picard completes the trio with a “very social” professional background, to use the words of Ms.^me Belanger. “You will have guessed that we are not an economic trio, jokes the minister. The human approach is extremely important […], we all share the same values. » M^me Picard is mandated to “land” the Government Action Plan for Caregivers, tabled in October 2021, which includes 61 measures (53 are in deployment). Mother of a severely disabled child, M.^me Picard herself has targeted the measures “that will make a difference” in the lives of caregivers to bring them to a conclusion more quickly. These measures aim to improve, promote and simplify access to services.

Home care: from targets to establishments

After a very critical second report from the Commissioner of Health and Welfare on the performance of government home support programs, Sonia Bélanger promises to “reorganize the work” of stakeholders by reassessing the time spent on administrative tasks and travel . She also wants to introduce “information technology” to reduce administrative delays. The Minister recently met with the CEOs of health establishments to inform them of her orientations. She gave them increase targets to achieve for the current year. François Legault has promised to operate “a real revolution” in home care. Despite significant investments, the shift is still pending.

Housing for seniors

With the aging of the population, housing for seniors remains one of the main challenges of Sonia Bélanger’s mandate. Despite the explosion in construction costs and labor issues, the Legault government will go ahead with a second phase of seniors’ homes, which consists of converting a first group of 19 dilapidated CHSLDs according to the CAQ model. . A budget of 2.9 billion is reserved for these sites, which provide for a net addition of only 200 new beds. More than 4,100 Quebecers are currently waiting for a place in a CHSLD. M^me At the same time, Bélanger is continuing to convert the quarantine of private CHSLDs into subsidized establishments. A process that must be completed by the end of 2025, according to the minister.