Northern Health CEO Cathy Ulrich and Board Chair Dr. Charles Jago  share the Seniors' Wellness Report – photos 250News

Prince George, B.C.- Northern Health  has released its  report on  Healthy Aging and Seniors’ Wellness.  The report  details the community consultation held last  fall throughout the  Northern Health region.

Northern Health Board Chair Dr. Charles Jago says  one of the striking things that came out of this report  was that no one said there was a need for more institutions and institutionalized care “They weren’t saying that,   they were saying ‘we  are part of the community, we want to remain in our homes, we want to remain close to our families’ so our work now is finding the way to allow people  to stay out of institutions as long as possible.”

The community consultations held throughout the region produced feedback on a number of areas that could be improved.

• Housing,  supports to allow seniors to stay in their homes longer are key to wellness
• Supports in the home: timely service, more frequent visits,  integration of  clinical services
• Transportation : providing access to much need services, recreational and social activities
• Education and Information : information about community  and health services needs to be simplified.
• Communication and integration of services; Seniors and their families view the health care system as fragmented,  better communication  throughout the system is vital
• Creating a Culture of Dignity and Respect: There is a need for care and services to be respectful of seniors,
• The challenge of the Northern Winter,  need to create or  support access to more facilities that would keep seniors active during the  winter months
• Financially disadvantaged,  It is important to do whatever is needed to prevent people from falling through the cracks.

While the 65 page report offers no specific recommendations or calls to action, the report will be used for future planning by Northern Health as it moves forward on developing a seniors’ strategy.

Some of the  issues identified in the report,  such as affordable housing, are  beyond Northern Health’s scope, but building partnerships with  municipal, provincial and federal governments,  can bring about positive results.  Partnerships, should not be considered “downloading” says Dr. Jago “When we engage with communities, this is not about downloading, this is about working smarter, by each of us doing what we do, but doing it together and doing it better.  We are very,  very  clear, we are not into the downloading game,  that in fact, we address that  right at the beginning  of trying to create these partnerships.” 

Partnerships with local, provincial and federal governments are “very critical” says Northern Health CEO and President Cathy Ulrich “particularly the municipal governments and the provincial government.  I think the municipal  government, around things like active living and elder friendly communities, those are things that they can really take some leadership on.  The provincial government, certainly from the policy perspective has as responsibility.  So this (the report) is information we will be communicating with our partners.”

Both Dr. Jago and Cathy Ulrich agree, this report is not the end of the conversation on seniors’ wellness “A  lot of this confirms the direction we are already  moving in” says Dr. Jago, “but it certainly says, to me at least, that we’re moving in  the right direction, there is a lot more  work to do, and this helps us understand what else we have to do.”

You can read the full report  by clicking on the  report image on the right.