B.C.'s Seniors Advocate Isobel Mackenzie has appointed a new 30-member council of seniors from across the province.
One member of the council, Trudy Hubbard, is from the North Shore. I sat down with Hubbard last week to learn more about how council members will work with the advocate and her office.
"They will shape the advocate's priorities, review projects and documents, liaise with seniors in their communities to find out what the issues and concerns are and share that information with the advocate," says Hubbard.
The appointed volunteer council members range in age from 65 to 85 and represent 26 communities in every region of the province. The position was advertised across B.C. and more than 300 applications were received.
"I got involved to be a volunteer council member because of my interest in seniors issues at North Shore Volunteers for Seniors (as executive director), and my role as president of Kiwanis Seniors Homes in North Vancouver," says Hubbard. "I want my perspectives on North Shore seniors heard and considered. I want to advocate for seniors, specifically older seniors. My knowledge and skills learned from working with seniors is invaluable in my opinion."
Hubbard approached the idea of joining the council cautiously. "I thought, OK, just keep an open mind, think outside the box. I was willing to say, 'Oh I don't think this is me' if I didn't like what I saw, but I liked what I saw right from the start."
Ask Hubbard about the big issues facing seniors and she cites housing, transportation, home support, helping caregivers and finding a better way to assist seniors to learn about resources so they can make their own choice of how and where they want to live. Ask her about what is closest to her heart and she says ensuring that frail seniors have a voice and improving the effectiveness of communications about programs and services targeted at seniors.
It's expected that the seniors advocate will meet with the council up to four times per year and on average the time commitment will be approximately 10 hours per month.
The council has met once so far. "There was great collaboration within the group," says Hubbard. "Everybody is motivated to represent their seniors in their areas. Everyone is very capable of articulating their concerns and issues. I was very pleased to see that it wasn't just one person leading the way."
I noted that the minister of health is required to release all of the reports submitted to his office by the advocate in a timely manner.
"I wouldn't be on this (council) if that (accountability) wasn't there," says Hubbard.
Going forward, council members are likely to be busy. According to a press release, the advocate's review of seniors housing in the province will be released in the late spring. A systematic review of home and community care is underway, and the office is planning the first independent survey of residential care clients in the province.
Hubbard notes that much of the information coming out of the office of the advocate is well-known but now it's documented. Exactly! For example, for the report, titled Placement, Drugs and Therapy. .. We Can Do Better, the advocate reviewed the health assessment records from B.C.'s 25,000 seniors in residential care and 29,000 seniors receiving home care.
We've never before seen that level of research, detail and analysis in a report on seniors at the provincial level.
Under the legislation, the seniors advocate is required to report annually to the minister of health. I'd love to be a fly on the wall for that meeting.
Tom Carney is the former executive director of the Lionsview Seniors' Planning Society. Ideas for columns are welcome. [email protected]
