Coming of Age: Meeting the needs of our aging population

 By 2030, Canada will be home to 9.5 million seniors, making up 23 percent of all Canadians. With the baby boom generation aging, the challenge of providing adequate seniors’ care in the future looms. Are we ready? In this episode of Coming of Age, Donna sits down with Laura Tamblyn Watts, the President and CEO of CanAge, Canada’s national advocacy organization for seniors. She shares her perspective on the impending upsurge of seniors in Canada, what we can do to prepare, and offers insight into what we can learn from the pandemic to build a better future for all of us as we age.

Learn more about Laura Tamblyn Watts: https://www.canage.ca/about/our-team/

More than two-thirds of the long-term care population in Canada is living with some form of dementia. Despite its prevalence, the disease still comes along with a strong stigma and many common misunderstandings. In this episode, Donna sits down with Dr. Rhonda Collins, the Chief Medical Officer at Revera, a company that owns and operates long-term care and retirement homes across North America and the U.K. As an advocate for those living with dementia and their loved ones, Dr. Collins sheds light on the common myths and misconceptions surrounding the condition, and the kinds of policy changes that are needed to provide better care. She and Donna also discuss the insights from a film produced by Revera called Unforgettable Ian: A long term care story, which seeks to demystify the experience of life in long-term care for Canadians.

Learn more about Dr. Rhonda Collins: 

https://reveraliving.com/en/about-us/our-leadership

Since the onset of the pandemic, the experience of the United Kingdom seniors’ care system paralleled Canada. In both countries, each challenge was met with new thinking – and solutions – to overcome them and protect our most vulnerable. So, what does that mean as we reimagine growing older, and the different types of supports required?

In this episode of Coming of Age, Donna sits down with Vic Rayner OBE, the CEO of The National Care Forum, a not-for-profit focused on providing leading care for over 27 years. Vic has become a prominent voice in the sector.  They discuss what our ageing population needs in the immediate future, what role technology will play, and what resources are needed to get there as the population requiring support rapidly grows.

Learn more about Vic Rayner: https://www.nationalcareforum.org.uk/ncf_team/vic-rayner/

Like Ontario, Australia has been grappling with long-standing systemic challenges in their seniors’ care system for decades. Australia is looking for innovative ways to reshape the system and improve care for its seniors, and there is much we can learn from each other as we work to make change on opposite ends of the world. In this episode of Coming of Age, Donna sits down with Marcus Riley, the Director of the Global Ageing Network and a member of the Steering Committee for the Global Alliance for the Rights of Older People (GAROP). They discuss the current seniors’ care system in Australia and the challenges they have faced over the years. Marcus sheds light on the main recommendations offered by the Commission, and new models of care Australia is exploring.

Learn more about the Global Ageing Network here: https://globalageing.org/

As our senior population increases, there are a lot of questions around how we’re going to provide the care that the baby boom generation will need. Join OLTCA’s Donna Duncan in conversation with Dr. Bob Bell, former Deputy Minister of Health for Ontario, as they discuss what strategies can help to keep more seniors at home as they age, and why increasing the number of long-term care beds is also necessary.

What can Canada learn about long-term care from other parts of the world? In this episode of Coming of Age, Donna sits down with Katie Smith Sloan, the Executive Director of The Global Ageing Network, an international network of leaders in seniors’ care. Donna and Katie discuss how other areas of the world have adapted to growing senior populations and explore how Canada can take action to create better supports for seniors.

Learn more about the Global Ageing Network here: https://globalageing.org/

Lisa Raitt is the former Canadian Minister of Labour, working under the Stephen Harper administration. After her husband was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's, she made the decision to put him in a long-term care facility for the foreseeable future. In this episode of Coming of Age, Donna welcomes her to the show to discuss how she made her decision, the stigma around long-term care, how to reframe it, and the possibilities she sees for the future of long-term care occupations.

Learn more about the Ontario Long Term Care Association here: https://oltca.com/OLTCA/

Mental health and long-term care are deeply interwoven and during the COVID-19 pandemic, this has never been more evident. In our second episode, Donna interviews Adrienne Spafford, the former Senior Director, Strategy & Public Affairs at OLTCA. Adrienne is now CEO of Addictions and Mental Health Ontario, and on today's episode, the two discuss the intersection of mental health in long-term care homes, first by addressing the needs of seniors and reflecting on the challenges and solutions created over the past 14 months. They question how we can reimagine senior living to promote stronger mental health by removing the stigma around mental illness. They continue by discussing front line workers, exploring how as a system, we can better provide the necessary resources care staff need on a daily basis.

Learn more about Adrienne Spafford and her work at Addictions and Mental Health Ontario here: https://amho.ca/amho-announces-adrienne-spafford-as-new-ceo/

It’s time for real change in long-term care. The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the shortcomings that the system has felt for decades and now, the public is ready for change. In our first episode, Donna sits down with Moira Welsh to discuss the current state of Canadian long-term care and what can be done to create the best possible experience for seniors. They dive into the need for a human-first approach to senior living, the ways that the system will need to adapt to the ageing baby boom population, why freedom and growth are so important to resident lives, and what long term care homes can do to better support their existing staff. 

Moira Welsh is the author of Happily Ever Older and an investigative journalist for the Toronto Star. 

• Follow her on Twitter @MoiraWelsh or on LinkedIn
• Read her articles here: thestar.com/authors.welsh_moira.html
• Purchase Happily Ever Older at Indigo, Amazon, independent bookstores, as an e-book from Kindle and Kobo, or as an audiobook on Audible.