These are some observations from Matthew Hutchinson, a participant in the study tour and board member of CommonAge, about the Canadian and Australian care systems.
Between June 13th and June 26th 2014, 14 Delegates from various organisations around Australia travelled to Toronto, Canada and New York, USA to see a range of world’s best practice in the delivery of community care, advances in seniors care information technology and centres of excellence in research and development. The group was also exposed to the respective government policy and funding regimes of each country for seniors.
The tour was an outstanding success on many levels and excellent working relationships were forged or reinforced between organisations and individuals. Following are some observations from the trip.
Canada is a country of approximately 35 million people, broken into seven provinces and two territories with a similar geographical area to Australia. Its governmental system is similar to ours with both Federal Government and Provincial Governments. All Canadians are eligible to free health and aged care. Private health funding and insurance are illegal in Canada though a culture of co-contribution is growing in relation to care.
Canada faces many of the same issues as Australia with respect to an ageing population. Proportionally, Canada’s population is ageing at the same rate as Australia. Over 65s represent 14 per cent of the population currently. By 2040 this will be 25 per cent. However, there are differences in the way care is delivered.
An Overview
- The Canadian seniors care system is predominantly medically focussed
- The Canadians have recently undertaken a survey measuring the efficacy of the care delivery systems in the country. Overall there was a high degree of satisfaction from both caregivers and recipients.
- The Primary Health Care system is under significant funding pressure.
- Over 65s represented 40 per cent of the acute care stays though they only make up 14 per cent of the population.
- Home Care is a combination of home health and formal supported care, eg nursing and occupational therapy delivered by licensed health personnel. This also includes assistance with homemaking and personal care.
- Long Term Care (LTC) is equivalent to Australia’s Residential Aged Care)
- Informal Care (usually by family members)
- The Provinces are not obliged to provide a minimum amount of care as they are required to do so under the Health Care Act
- Home care and Long Term Care are not covered by the Health Act.
- Access to and the quality of home and LTC care varies from province to province
- The Community Care Access Centres (CCAC) are provincial based gateways which act like Australia’s ACAT teams with respect to assessing individuals for care and co-ordination of care programs.