Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to follow up on the questions that my colleague Mr. Krutko is asking, but I want to do it from a slightly different angle. Clearly we have an aging population in Canada and the Northwest Territories. People are living longer due to advances in health sciences and whatnot. In the Northwest Territories we’ve done a great job providing facilities to help support individuals who need level 3 and 4 care. With the approval of the capital budget we’ll soon have a long-term care facility for level 3 and 4 in every region in the Northwest Territories, which I think is great.
Research does suggest that living and aging in place has significant advantages to both the individuals and to the system by way of cost savings. The Minister of Health and Social Services has gone on the record talking about aging in place. I support that direction. I think there is significant value in helping people live in their homes. Aging in place does not just mean living in your communities, it means living in your home.
I’d like a little more information from the Minister of Health on what the department is doing proactively to support seniors today and in the future to live in their homes and age in place rather than have to rely on facilities. It would be a lot more affordable for us to help them stay in their homes than to put them in facilities. What is some of the proactive work the Minister’s doing?
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. The honourable Minister responsible for Seniors, Ms. Lee.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We understand and the Member recognizes that we need to have a long-term care facility network in regional centres at least. We have a long way in doing that. We have planned for them. We have put them into capital planning. We know that has to be the last resort. Most families and elders, even, I don’t think want to go into long-term care facilities unless they have to. This is why we set up as our long-term goal to expand home care services.
We have very good home care services in places like Yellowknife, and the GNWT provides home care as an insured service, which is something different. In other jurisdictions you have to pay for those, except for those who meet income tests or something like that. We want to expand these programs to regional centres and communities and that’s one of the things we’re doing in Aklavik, whereas right now we’re looking after two long-term care elders for a large amount of money, MLA Krutko has pointed out a number of times that he believes there are, and we agree too, they are up to 100 or 30 to 60 elders who are at home doing their own thing but who need support from the government, so that we pay attention to them, that we have elders program, lunch program, where health care professionals and other community people could converge and keep an eye on our elders so that they’re supported, they’re provided with recreational programs, and just a network is built around these elders so that we prevent them from falling through the cracks. It is one that we want to expand and that’s the goal of the department.
I thank the Minister for all those comments. I agree wholeheartedly. I think this is an important area to work on. The responses were more conceptual, they were bigger picture, and I’m kind of wondering more about the specific actions that are taking place to help us facilitate aging in place. I know that we need more home care support and we do have a great program here in Yellowknife, but what is the plan? How are we actually going to facilitate getting home care workers, whether it’s a home care nurse or a home support worker, into those communities?
I do have a suggestion for the Minister. Several years ago, probably eight or nine now, the Aurora College delivered this Home Support Worker Training Program and it was delivered by the college but facilitated out of Fort Res. I believe they trained about eight or nine local people to be home support workers. Great program, great benefits. Is this the type of thing we can expect to see in other communities throughout the Northwest Territories? Training of local people for local jobs to get them to support local people?
I didn’t know that’s what the Member was referring to. The Member knows already, and I’ve already said that in the standing committee briefing last week and throughout the Committee of the Whole debates, that that’s the direction we need to take. We’re expanding the long-term care facilities in Behchoko from eight beds to 18 beds. We’re going to have an 18-bed facility in Norman Wells. Even in those facilities we could use personal attendants and home support workers.
We want to expand the Home Support Worker Program and Home Care Program in many other regions and communities. Yellowknife, I think, is a standard. I think we have a very good programming in Yellowknife and Hay River and some of the major centres, but we desperately need to expand these programs into communities. What we have under Foundation for Change action plan is that we have set this as a goal and are moving out from where we have so much need in so many of our communities. Part of that work, and I’ve said that already, in reviewing our health training program at Aurora College, I am definitely working with the department and we are talking with HR about having Home Care Support Training Program to get ready for expansion.
Once again I agree with everything the Minister is saying and I support the direction they’re going. What I’m looking for more is sort of concrete action. When can we expect to see some of these programs rolled out in the communities? We’re not getting any younger. Now is kind of the time to get these programs in place. I hear what she’s saying. I heard what the Minister is saying and I support what the Minister is saying. I’m glad the Minister’s doing it. When can we start to see some action rolled out? When can we start seeing some of the training on the ground for the people?
We are doing that right now so I’m not sure. A lot of people say, well, when are you going to do that? We are doing that as we speak. We are rolling out a program in Aklavik as we speak. That’s the transition between the Joe Greenland Centre and the program we are going to be offering. We are expanding the Home Care Program there. We want to deliver elders centre day programming there.
The Foundation for Change action plan includes expansion of home care but we need to find the resources to do that and that includes training and that includes having PYs set for home care. We are making that part of the business plan. We already have a very well-established Home Care Program in the Northwest Territories. I believe Ruth Spence started that 30 years ago, or Esther Braden. We have a very well-established Home Care Program history in the Northwest Territories. Our challenge is to expand that to communities outside of Yellowknife and we’re doing that right now. He doesn’t have to wait for the bell to go off and say when are you getting going. We are doing that. We want to do more of it.
Thank you, Ms. Lee. Final supplementary, Mr. Abernethy.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think the Minister might be missing the point I’m trying to make here. I agree with everything she’s saying. I think our Home Care Program is fantastic. I’m glad it’s rolling out to the other communities. I’m talking about getting the people in those communities trained to do the jobs, trained to do the home support worker programs. I don’t actually see... If it exists, I’d like her to show me where our current home support worker training exists. That’s what I’m asking. I support everything the Minister is doing, but where’s the training program? When can we see a training program roll out so we can get Northerners doing northern jobs to help the elders and seniors in the communities? That’s what I’m focusing on, not on the great programs that exist and moving them out, because I support them. I’m talking about training. I’m just trying to be clear.
I think I should give him my profile of where we are with home care programming that we’re doing right now. I would be happy to give him information on where we need to go and where we plan to go. Obviously, all the time it’s subject to funding. I’ve presented information to standing committee about growing funding needs. We want to expand the Home Care Program. We want to do different things with mental health programming. We have $40 million or $50 million asked right now with the Department of Health and Social Services that we will be prioritizing and bringing forward in months to come.
Thank you, Ms. Lee. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.
