We all deserve to feel safe and secure from physical, psychological and financial abuse. Programs and supports across Ontario’s systems of health, social, community, financial and justice are responsible for protecting us from these threats. Let’s find out how Ontario is protecting vulnerable seniors. Efforts protecting vulnerable seniors Ontario’s Office of the Public Guardian and Trustee acts as a public guardian for more than 13,500 mentally incapable adults and assists over 50,000 of Ontario’s most vulnerable citizens. To better safeguard our interests, the government promises to strengthen Ontario’s Office of the Public Guardian by improving its customer service provided through the creation of a contact centre, improved information management, and modernized service delivery. This will help them to support the anticipated increases to case volumes and complexities. It will also ensure that as demands increase with the aging population, they are able to continuously meet their service standards and legislative requirements. Improving prevention of elder abuse Elder abuse should never be tolerated. We all deserve to live safely and without fear in our homes and communities, which is why the government is planning on strengthening their work to prevent and respond to elder abuse. Actions include public education, service provider training, research, and improved community response, to better support abused older adults. This also includes dedicated efforts to address violence against older women as well as support to older people in Indigenous communities. Expansion of senior’s consumer protection services Unfortunately, seniors are a key target of scams. The Ontario government plans to launch a consumer protection program aimed at protecting our hard-earned money through education and awareness, as well as through enhanced assistance and intervention programs for those who have fallen victim to consumer threats or scams. If you’d like to report a safety or privacy-related incident, contact the Seniors Safety Line on 1-866-299-1011.

Looking for new opportunities to learn, have fun or meet new people? These days, seniors are living longer and more actively than they ever have before, with many remaining independent at home and in their communities, thanks to community engagement initiatives. Opportunities for seniors Ontario’s Seniors Community Grant Program has said it will be extending and enhancing its support to larger projects that will benefit more seniors in the long run. The program has, since being formed, funded over 1,300 projects in hundreds of communities that have helped more than 435,000 seniors to learn, volunteer and be socially involved in their communities. Read Impressive housing benefits for Toronto seniors. Engaging through the arts Did you know, engagement with the arts is known to reduce isolation, promote self-confidence and build a sense of community? Participating in arts activities and art therapy has proven to benefit both physical and mental illnesses associated with aging. The government has said it will create a fund to support art enrichment for seniors in community settings such Active Living Centres, retirement homes, hospitals, and long-term care homes, as well as the capacity for seniors to engage in arts organizations in their communities. Help with technology The Change the World program of Ontario is launching a special project that will link youth volunteers with seniors to help build their understanding and enable their use of technology, which in turn will help reduce social isolation. Social connectedness is vital to seniors’ health and well-being. Those with close connections and relationships tend to cope better with health conditions and experience fewer mental health issues than those without. Click here  to can find details on social activities and community engagement initiatives.

Aging is a universal process. It happens to all of us, but it does not have to be a bad experience as most people would assume. According to most seniors, the past year of their lives have been normal or better than average. More and more seniors are choosing to age in place in their home, rather than live in a retirement home. Aging in place means having the health and social services necessary to live independently and safely in one’s home for as long as possible, as well as to the maximum of one’s capability, including access to top 5 services. “I’ve lived here for so long. No other place truly feels like home.” – Maheswaran Vaithilingim. If you have older parents, it would be wise to start planning for their care sooner than later. You will be more prepared to respond to their changing needs the older they grow. Start questioning your parents and ask them what their goals are and what kind of lifestyle they want to attain. The following chart shows the most requested top 5 services by seniors. It is important to keep in mind that this is an approximation and that these exact percentages may not reflect the reality at hand. At the end of the day, every individual is unique and has differing needs. A “one-size-fits-all” solution does not exist. Older adults are just as diverse as any other age group regarding ethnicity, sex, education, income, and health. Individual seniors have particular needs that can be addressed through multidisciplinary collaboration, in the form of tailored programs and interventions. Market Drivers Canada’s population is aging. According to results from a 2015 Canadian census, over 15% of our population consisted of people over the age of 65. Canada’s aging population will continue to take up a larger share of the total population. By 2024, it is estimated that seniors will make up 20.1% of our population. By 2036, it is projected that seniors will make up 25% of Canada’s population. People of 85 years of age and older are making up the fastest growing age group in Canada, which grew by 127% between 1993 and 2013. Statistics Canada predicts that there will be over 62,000 Canadians aged 100 and older by 2063. In 2012, 2.2 million Canadians aged fifteen years and older received support at home due to long term aging related issues. Seniors are most likely to receive care at home, that is why nine out of ten Canadians agree that a national seniors strategy should be put in place to address their needs along a full continuum of care.   Challenges The rise in life expectancy in Canada’s aging population is partly due to advances in medicine, nutrition, sanitation, and education, which is a significant accomplishment. This is a cause for celebration, however it comes with a price. Population aging presents social, cultural, and financial difficulties to individuals, families, and their communities which negatively impact the quality of their life. With the proportion of seniors growing faster than any other age group, there are concerns about the capacity to deal with this demographic shift. The future of care is dependent on how effectively we address the challenges of population aging with feasible solutions. As your parents age, they will find it more difficult to conduct household chores and perform property maintenance. Small routine tasks like cutting the grass and shoveling  snow can eventually get beyond an elders capacity. According to one elderly woman, it is important to have someone help with household chores, It becomes even more troublesome when these individuals cannot get informal support from their friends and family. It can be hard to trust strangers and allow them into their homes especially when you do not have the time and the resources to conduct background checks on every worker. Accessibility services are in great demand by seniors because safety is essential. This also allows seniors and their families to have peace of mind, knowing that there is less of a chance that a senior may fall in the home and break their hip. Getting in and out of the bath is a common problem. This not only requires seniors to take greater care, but restricts the number of times they would actually take a bath. Not surprisingly, personal support is among the most requested services by seniors. There comes a point in time when a senior’s health deteriorates to the point where they themselves cannot manage it effectively. As seniors get older, they start to require assistance in areas they where they did not before. This includes the six activities of daily living, which are bathing, dressing, toileting, transferring, continence, and feeding. A common hardship faced by many older adults is loneliness. Seniors who are formerly married, the majority of whom are widowed, and those who also live alone are the most likely to need social support. Since they are more unlikely to have easy access to informal sources of support, they are also more unlikely to have their needs met. Conversely, older adults whose needs are met tend to be married and have informal sources of care in close proximity and typically within the same household. Widowhood can have serious consequences for older adults, typically it results in habitating in a one-person household. A common theme present throughout the literature was that lonely older adults just want someone to talk to. Transportation is another major issue for seniors. It hinders them from participating in favourable activities because of costs, accessibility complications, and reliability with planned routes. Regarding public transportation, there are physical difficulties in terms of moving, standing, climbing the stairs, reading route numbers and even walking to the bus stop if it is far from their home. Transit difficulties makes it hard to complete general errands like shopping. Shopping provides purpose and structure to their lives, enabling them to remain independent, however, shopping becomes more and more difficult with age. The return journey can be challenging when heavy bags stretch their physical capabilities. Those who use walking…
Read more

Canada’s population is aging. There are now more seniors in Canada than there ever was in history. According to results from a 2015 Canadian census, over 15% of our population consisted of people over the age of 65. Canada’s aging population will continue to take up a larger share of the total population. By 2024, it is estimated that they will make up 20.1% of our population. By 2036, it is projected that seniors will consist of 25% of Canada’s population. People of 85 years of age and older make up the fasting growing age group in Canada, growing by 127% between 1993 and 2013. Statistics Canada predicts that there will be over 62,000 Canadians aged 100 and older by 2063 (Canadian Medical Association, 2016). The rise in life expectancy in Canada’s aging population, partly due to advances in medicine, nutrition, sanitation, and education, is a significant accomplishment. This is a cause for celebration. However, population aging presents difficulties to individuals in terms of handling their instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs) at home, negatively impacting their quality of life. IADLs include cooking, using technologies, housekeeping, property maintenance, and more (Lawton & Brody, 1970). Quality of life refers to the general well-being of individuals, encompassing physical, social, functional, and financial factors (Paskulin & Molzahn, 2007). Even if an individual has a high life expectancy, he or she may not be able to reap the benefits of a full and satisfying life.   Today, more seniors are choosing to age in place at home, rather than live in a retirement home. Aging in place includes having the health and social services necessary to live independently and safely in one’s home for as long as they want and are capable. This is beneficial with regards to a senior’s sense of attachment to their home and property. Aging in place gives seniors comfort and security because long-term emotional connections to environmental stimuli have been linked to well-being as people age. Seniors want to make their own choices about their living arrangements and access to services (Wiles, Leibing, Guberman, Reeve, & Allen, 2011). Book a free assessment Statement of Objectives In this paper, I will explore the effects of home and property support on the quality of life for seniors aging in place in Canada from beyond the biomedical sphere. I will do this by executing a literature review on the topic. I intend on examining and unpacking themes of functionality, independence, and autonomy when conducting my research. Methodology My topic derived from three main disciplines, which were health sciences, social sciences, and applied sciences. Qualitative and quantitative data was sought from several online databases accessed through Western Libraries, being PubMed, Scopus, JSTOR, CINAHL, Academic Search Complete, Web of Science, and Google Scholar. The key words that were used to search for journals and books were “Home” OR “Property” AND “Support” OR “Maintenance” AND “Seniors” OR “Older Adults” AND “Quality of Life” AND “Aging in Place” AND “Canada”. Overview of the Literature Majority of the research collected on this population can be broken down into three categories which affect the quality of life for seniors; finance, safety, and health. Home and property maintenance may seem discouraging and costly. However, routine checks saved seniors a lot of money long-term. They did not have to deal with the much larger costs associated with replacing utilities and appliances once they were beyond repair. For example, seniors who have checked their air conditioning unit at least once a year saved more money by preventing long term damage. Preventative maintenance not only increased their quality of life, but also raised the estate value of a senior’s home over time (Control4, 2017). Demographic, economical, and political pressures have pushed the government to prioritize home care programs and services. Although some seniors were eligible for services after providing their proof of income and disabilities, many were placed on a waiting list or did not receive any services at all. Allocation of publicly-funded services was based on level of need because seniors with a higher functional capacity, and less cognitive impairment, required less support. Also. the older the individuals were, the more likely they were in need of assistance (Markle-Reid et al., 2008). When support was not available through the government, seniors who chose to age in place had two options. Firstly, they attempted to gain support from informal caregivers, such as friends and family. This was difficult for many seniors because their friends and family were not always available to attend to their needs. Secondly, they sought help from private companies; this form of support tended to be the most effective. Lastly, the seniors who could not get help from either of these sources had to manage on their own, which was not sustainable. (Markle-Reid et al., 2008). Safety was heavily associated with accessibility support, which was one of the most requested services by seniors (Clough et al., 2007). The most common type of support requested was a grab bar installation, especially in the bathtub, to reduce the likelihood of falling. Falls are the primary cause for injury-related hospitalizations for Canadian seniors. The number of self-reported injuries due to falling increased by 43% from 2003 to 2010. Most falls resulted in fractured or broken bones; over one third of these falls were associated with a hip fracture. The number of deaths due to seniors falling has increased by 65% between 2003 and 2008. In addition, there are negative mental health outcomes associated with falling, such as fear of falling, anxiety, loss of autonomy, immobilization, depression, and greater isolation (Stinchcombe, Kuran, & Powell, 2014). Home and property maintenance also increased the safety of seniors’ homes. Break-in and robberies tended to occur in homes with poor exterior maintenance because they looked neglected and easy to enter (Clough et al., 2007). Inadequate home and property conditions were linked to a variety of different health conditions. Characteristics of poor housing included lack of safe drinking water, absence of hot water for washing, ineffective waste disposal, deficient food storage,…
Read more

Now that it’s legal, are you going to try it? What you need to know about Cannabis effects on seniors? A few tidbits from the past week or so… Cannabis Effects On Seniors – Now that it’s legal, are you going to try it? Do you know enough about Cannabis and it’s effects on you as you age? There are some interesting studies done that outline what it does and how it can effect you. There is an extensive guide we like on Aging.com, and a very interesting look at the impact of marijuana legalization on our older generation on ComfortLife ca. Get to know about the future of aging. Who else wants to live long and stay healthy? There have been countless studies over the years around healthy aging.  But even as fads come and go, one thing keeps popping to the top of the list; OMEGA-3 Fatty Acids and their effects on our health over time. According to a new study in the British Medical Journal OMEGA-3 Fatty Acids are one of the worst kept secrets to a long and healthy life.  Why don’t more people do what’s good for them? Learn about tax credits, benefits and other government financial assistance If you don’t know already, there is one page on the governments website that allows you to learn about available tax credits, benefits and government pensions available for Seniors in Ontario, including Veterans.  Take a look, they seem update it regularly. The March of Dimes Ontario will help eligible seniors modify their homes to be safer and more accessible If you know someone who has an illness that makes it hard to use their home or vehicle, they may be eligible for up to $15,000 of funding. Not everyone qualifies, but this could be a life-saver for the right person. Real bombs mailed to some well known Democrats across the USA It’s just like it would go down in a movie, but unfortunately, it’s real. Robert Di Niro and Joe Biden  where targeted ahead of US mid term elections. Major names getting mailed bombs via US Postal Service.  Scary to think that they would even get close to the door let alone past postal screening. Just a day ago, Barak Obama and Bill and Hillary Clinton where also targeted with pipe bombs sent through the mail. In case you’re still wondering who won the local elections in Ontario Matchups across Ontario took place this week, with some surprising wins like Patrick Brown in Brampton and other triumphs over controversial long standing councilors like Giorgio Mammoliti. Here is a complete list of the wins across Ontario cities. That’s all for now…

Taking the seniors garbage and recycling to the curb is a big job for many of our customers so you may understand how happy I was when my friend John showed me this service.   Eligible seniors garbage can have the city come to their home, come up to the house and take their garbage out for them and put the pails back after.  This is a free service for those who need it.  All you need to do is to fill out the application at this link >>> CLICK HERE TO GET A FREE QUOTE<<<.   Not everyone will qualify, but if you’re a senior managing your home, you have a great chance of getting this support. Best of luck! Photo and application from the City of Toronto.