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Seniors Steamer B Palmer the HERALD SECTION B Wednesday December 1991 E HILLS School News Arts and Ideas Religion Seniors voice concerns at special forum By LISA The Herald If one thing was confirmed at last weeks Seniors Community Forum hosted by Georgetown and District Memorial Hospital it is that a lot of changes need to be made before seniors feel theyre being properly serviced This was the overwhelming con cern of the over seniors who at tended the forum and demanded changes in their social- recreational transportation and health care services The forum was held at the Halton Regional Police station in Georgetown The seniors came to contribute their ideas for a study which is being conducted by Georgetown and District Memorial Hospital on Health and Related Social Service Needs for Seniors in Hills MELLISH Today we want you to look at the work done and tel us if you think were going in the right direction the Hospitals Executive Director John Oliver told the seniors at the start of the meeting Our intent is to complete a study to develop an actionplan document so agencies in Halton Hills know what they have to do to meet the needs of seniors he said And tell him what theyre needs were they did Groups were formed based on issues seniors were most concerned about and these concerns were recorded by study committee mem bers and reported at the end of the group period By far the most important issue for seniors was the lack of a seniors recreation centre There is no seniors centre and our group felt strongly that there should be one said study con sultant Debbie McDonald They felt the centre would be excellent not only for social functions but as a focal point for other seniororiented services Mellish chairman of the meeting and a study committee member said were willing to go with a multiuse complex that could include a base for Meals on Wheels and medical and social services Its important that it get built as soon as possible and theres talk about getting it going now on a tem porary basis he continued Another issue seniors were very vocal about was the difficulties many face in accessing available services Study committee member and Public Health Nurse Maggie Connolly led a group con cerned about health and social ser vices I kept hearing one question over and overhow and where can we ac cess services she reported The solution could be the creation of a central service agency to help an swer questions and coordinate ser vices similar to Acton Social Ser vices and Information Centre ASSIC in Acton Another area seniors indicated there was need for was more flexible services Services like have certain hours and dont provide ser vice on nights or weekends but theres a need for these types of ser- MAGGIE CONNELLY Provincial promises By LISA BOONSTOPPELPOT The Herald increased emphasis on community- based services to help the elderly and physically disabled stay In their homes is the thrust of a new Ontario Ministry of Health document The document entitled the Redirection of Longterm Care and Sup port Services in Ontario was released October and cites key direc tions for change These directions include integration of longterm care health and social services improved access to quality services and the creation of community alternatives to institutions In the document the government has promised a in vestment in longterm care and support services over the next several years This Includes a large expansion In funding for com munity support services states the document According to the document the current annual funding for long- term care is billion Francis Lankln Minister of Health says the province will Increase funds every year over the next five years so that by an additional million annually will be Invested In longterm care and support services Approximately milllom of the new funding will be for com munity programs and the remainder wilt be directed to facility care John Roe the Community Planning Coordinator for North Halton said the plan is not a case of new funding but its about realocating funding to meet the needs of communities In North the problem Is of access to services said Mr Roe We need more Inhome services here and that Is what the thrust of this redirection is about The process of changlnn services In Ontario will Include consultation with seniors and the physicallyhandicapped advocates and caregivers labor and womens groups and health and social service planners At the local level Community Health and Support Services area offices will assist communities In developing consultation plans vices on weekends and nights said Ms Connelly Also seniors in this group felt it was time to get rid of medical models when it came to services Some services are only available when youre ill but many seniors need these services in order to stay their own homes Another hot issue at the Seniors Forum was transportation and the lack of it Many seniors expressed dissatisfaction with the inflexibility of available transportation ser vices One solution mentioned was to make use of school buses when theyre not being used for school transportation Mr Oliver assured the seniors in attendance that their were noted and would be condensed into a focussed direction He warned the residents however that funding always plays a part in change and creative solutions might be required work on the Health and Related Social Service Needs for Seniors in Hills study began in Aug when Georgetown and District Memorial Hospital received fun ding from the Provincial Ministry of Community and Social Services Home is where the heart is By LISA The Herald When youre sick and need emergency help you can call But what or who can you call when youre not sick and need help wonder Jack and Betty Pickup of Georgetown is good when youre sick but theyre should be a 912 number to call when youre not sick and really need help says Mr Pickup The Pickups arent poor and they arent sick What they are Is elderly and facing the reality that their bodies are no longer capable of what they once were Mr Pickup is 88 blind He developed Retinitis in 1975 and his eyesight has been slowly deteriorating since Mrs Pickup is 77 and has trouble breathing due to a childhood bout with tuberculosis hich scarred her lungs They live In a twostory house in Georgetown where theyre lived for 33 years Its where they raised their two children and where their grandchildren and great grandchildren come to visit Theyve remodelled and reddecorated the house during those years and in Mr Pickup words Its just now the we like It Their biggest fear now Is that theyll be forced to leave this house of memories- their home- because theyll no longer be able to keep it up Were getting along nicely now but its getting harder and harder to keep going admits Mr Pickup It llfl that the time will come when we cant get by unless sonic new agency comes along to His fear and the fear of many other seniors racing cir cumstances were voiced at a Seniors Community Forum hosted b Georgetown District Memorial Hospital last week The hospital is conducting a study on Health and Related Social Ser vice Needs for Seniors in Hills and hosted the forum to deter mine what seniors themselves fell was needed in Hills John Oliver Executive Director at GDM1I said the study was initiated after hospital ad ministrators wondered if they were properly planning for seniors needs We were in the process of developing nursing home beds at the Bennett Centre when we asked ourselves beds were the best solution he said We wondered what the seniors themselves thought would be best What the Pickups think would be best is developing more services to prevent seniors from getting ill so as to reduce the drain on health care service costs Mr Pickup has had to be treated back to health with pills and hospital care because he was out doing a job his aging body was no longer able to do A couple of years ago 1 was In the house by myself after i shovelling snow and a disc slipped in my back I could hardly move but I managed to call a friend who in turn called the ambulance recalled Mr Pickup The ambulance was here in no time and I thought what a mar vellous service But it seemed strange to me that so much money was being spent to get me better but no money was being spent to prevent me from getting injured in the first place As he says subsidizes health care costs Why isnt there subsidized help for seniors A draft copy of the seniors study containing Issues possible solutions and strategies has the issue of home support services listed That proves health care givers have been listening to seniors and are now looking beyond traditional health care measures to find better ways to sen this important sector of our society For seniors like the Pickups change in the system cant come soon enough They dont ant hand outs they just want Inhome help at a reasonable rate so they can con tinue to liv e at home Picking up the shovel Jack and Betty Pickup are getting to the age where picking up a shovel or rake isnt fun or healthy The couple Is one of many who have concerns about Halton Hills homecare system and the Pickups fear if they dont get homecare theyll have to leave their home of 33 years Herald Photo