Hornby and Denman Community Health Care Society (HDCHCS) is a non-profit organization and charity, founded 42 years ago to provide home support for seniors on Denman and Hornby Islands. Today, HDCHCS is a multi-service organization dedicated to promoting the health and well-being of island residents through a variety of valuable programs and services including Home Support, Better at Home, Child & Youth Counselling and Family Support, Youth Outreach, Adult Mental Health & Substance Use services, a Seniors Day Program and Equipment Loan Cupboards. The vision of the Society is ‘Healthy Islanders’ and the mission is ‘To optimize the health and health services for residents of Hornby and Denman Islands’. Values of the Society include operating in a way that is integrated, community-based, compassionate, prevention-based and inclusive. The Society employs over 40 dedicated and caring staff and contractors and more than 25 volunteers regularly contribute their time and expertise. HDCHCS owns the Community Medical Clinic and offices on Hornby Island, and keeps offices at the Health Centre on Denman and in the Comox Valley for the regional Better at Home program.
Hornby and Denman Islands are located off the east coast of Vancouver Island, each with a population of about 1,250 people. These are rural remote communities, particularly Hornby which is two ferries and one and a half hours (plus ferry wait time) from the nearest large centre on Vancouver Island. In the summer when the population soars with visitors and summer residents, ferry wait times can be several hours long. While some supplies can be obtained in the community, both the infrastructure and service provision are quite limited. There is no public transportation, few housing options, no extended care or assisted living facilities. The hospital and health specialists are located on Vancouver Island. As in many communities, physician recruitment and retention is a concern.
The islands have a growing number of elderly residents representing over 38% of the overall population. Existing home support services have been impacted by aging population needs higher than current service and support capacity, affordability issues, social isolation, limited connections to specialists and virtual care, home support labour shortage, fragmented and changing unsustainable funding mechanisms, substandard housing and few transitional housing options. These challenges are also compounded by rural and remote issues faced by rural communities around public home support services that are designed for urban environments, as well as transportation, connectivity, and economies of scale. In response HDCHCS has been working on a ‘Community for Life’ project. By addressing social determinants of health, identifying “what matters” to island seniors and by collaborating with a broad partnership network, we aim to improve the quality of life for island seniors aging in place and to develop a model of integrated, team-based and virtually-enabled rural/remote home support that addresses the needs of Hornby and Denman Island seniors. Learnings from this project could be shared with other rural/remote communities facing similar challenges throughout BC and Canada.
Collaboration and persistence are essential as we struggle for some level of equity to address local health priorities. The BC Association of Community Health Centres is supporting the formation of a ‘small island’ network which we are hopeful will allow for more sharing of information and a combined voice for advocacy and negotiation with our health authority decision makers.
Visit the Hornby & Denman Community Health Care Society here…
