Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, earlier I spoke about elder abuse in communities, and two years ago this government developed a strategy. My question is to the Minister of Health and Social Services. What actions has the department taken in the last year to act on the recommendation and needs outlined in the strategy, creating safe communities for older adults? Mahsi.
Masi. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the department provides about $205,000 annually to the NWT Seniors' Society, and they do a number of things with those dollars. They support the Senior Citizens' Month. They support the Senior Citizens' Advisory Council. They also provide community outreach programs. Of that $205,000, $90,000 is allocated to support the Network to Prevent Abuse of Older Adults and different activities.
This has also led to a significant number of resources that are available. I believe they are on the NWT Seniors' Society website, but they are also on the GNWT website and the NWT Health and Social Services website. That actually can direct seniors to resources that exist or programs that they can go to support them if they feel that abuse is occurring and direct them to where they might be able to get assistance, guidance, or help. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
My elders are seeking reassurances. My second question to the Minister is: can the Minister provide an update on the piloting of elder abuse screening tools in territorial seniors' programs and, also, in particular communities?
Much of that work has been done, but much of that work is also ongoing. It continues to evolve. It is one of the items in the Continuing Care Action Plan. Actually, it is in objective number one. I believe it is on page 5 that it talks about elder abuse, and it is continuing the work that we are doing in partnership with the NWT Seniors' Society to finalize a standard set of elder abuse screening tools and to test those tools as well. It also includes protocols and intervention procedures for youth by a different health care provider. When an individual comes into a health centre, as an example, and it is identified that they might be a victim of elder abuse, what they can do and how the staff can recognize it.
Much of that work is proceeding. Some of it is done, others still need to be done, and we will continue to keep committee updated on that information, but also work with our communities to make sure that that information is out and available to elders. To that end, we are also going to be including those types of things in the elders' handbook, which I will be tabling later today. As those tools are developed, there will certainly be linkages to them in those documents.
The Minister clearly states that the action of the government is evolving, and again, elders seek reassurance. If there are indeed screening tools within the strategy and the department is employing those, what are the next steps for those who have flagged the abuse and for the elders themselves in terms of the screening tools that are employed by the department?
The department is just one of the partners in putting these tools together. The NWT Seniors' Society is also a key partner in the work that has been done in this area. We are certainly going to work with the NWT Seniors' Society as well as other seniors' societies to find the best way to get that information out to seniors. I know that the NWT Seniors' Society, through the NWT Network to Prevent Abuse of Older Adults, have been around since 2009, and they try to get information out to our seniors and to our elders across the Northwest Territories. We are going to continue to work with them to find the mechanisms to get that information out that work best for the residents in small communities, large communities, and regional centres.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Deh Cho.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, again, the government has the strategy for creating safe communities for older adults. My last question is: are we meeting the goals of the strategy, and could the Minister provide a substantive example of the concrete steps that his department has undertaken to ensure that elders are no longer being abused in communities?
I think one of the concrete things that we are doing is actually providing the money to the NWT Seniors' Society to do the work around prevention and awareness and through the Network to Prevent Abuse of Older Adults. We are providing them money. We are working with them to get the information out. We are working on those different screening tools to make sure those are available to our health practitioners so that when individuals come in who are victims of abuse, they are recognized, and they are directed appropriately.
This work continues to evolve as new information becomes available and as new things are happening. As technology changes, these things will continue to evolve. We will be, at a point in time, but it is important to acknowledge that these things will be continuing to evolve as time goes on and as technology changes. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.
