Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Health and Social Services.
As I spoke about in my Member's statement, organizations such as the Yellowknife Seniors' Society have been advocating strongly for the adult day program to be re-established in Yellowknife, particularly to support seniors with dementia and their caregivers. So what consultation has the department done specifically with organizations and families supporting seniors with dementia and Alzheimer's to assess the need for such an adult day program? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member from Yellowknife North. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there has been no consultation done since 2019 review of the adult day program in Yellowknife which included a survey of home care clients and their families in Yellowknife and that the end results showed that there was no need for an adult day program. In 2019, there were preliminary discussions with NGOs about the potential to take on running an adult day program, but there was no interest and there was no feedback provided as to the funding amount. The department has completed the new long-term care standards that includes where available and how adult day activities may be provided within long-term care facilities. They may be provided to long-term care residents in community dwellings, adults who may have positions or cognitive impairments and living with chronic illness. Within the staffing model for long-term care, there are activity aides or recreational therapy positions, but this is geared towards providing supports to the residents that live in long-term care. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I -- I think the Minister perhaps anticipated my second question here, but. And I would just point out, you know, that home care clients may be a different audience or different group than specifically people supporting seniors with dementia and Alzheimer's.
But can the Minister explain what is done to consider the feasibility of opening up day programming beyond the live-in long-term care residents at our long-term care facilities and whether other, like drop-in clients could be included in some of that programming. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, when the department reached out to home care families, those families are a variety of issues that, you know, they're from families that are providing care to young children to members with -- like, with dementia. And I encourage if there were no -- if they're living with people with dementia and supporting family members that home care is a support. So if they're not accessing that service, I just want to make sure that they know that that's a service that they can be accessing. But currently, the NTHSSA does not have funding for -- for the question providing -- opening up day programming in the long-term residents. So the funding that is in long-term care is for full scale admissions and to being able to provide programming only to those residents that are in there at this time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Final supplementary. Member from Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wonder if the Minister could commit to come back to me or come back to this House with some information about how much funding the department had been willing to offer in the RFPs that it had previously put out for an adult day program and examine opportunities for that amount of funding to, you know, be added on perhaps to current programming in long-term care facilities. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as many know how our budget works, that when the NTHSSA or the health authority gets their money dedicated to providing services, whatever that amount was in 2019 or prior to that may -- you know, will be -- has been reallocated to other areas that are supporting long term and community care programming. So if the department has to go back and look at committing to reviewing options, these options would be necessary -- like, if there's options, they're going to need funding, and what we can -- what we are looking at is piloting in the new year programming that could be worked alongside in our long-term care once we've had admissions here for those home care clients and looking at how that would be funded. So that's something that is in the works, in the planning, but it would need to have funds for that approved to do that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Oral questions. Member from the Deh Cho.
