Picture courtesy of the New Denver Blue Birds
February 17th 2025 – Paul Adams
Reimagining Care for Our Seniors – Community First
Across rural and remote communities in British Columbia, the challenges of providing long-term care (LTC) are clear. Many seniors face extended waits for care and must travel to urban centres, which often means separation from family and community and a loss of personal autonomy. Our current centralized model does not adequately serve the unique needs of rural communities. It is time to rethink our approach and bring care closer to home.
Key findings, concerns and potential solutions include:
- The number of seniors waiting for a long-term care bed has increased by 150 per cent over the past five years, reaching 6,500 in 2023/24.
- The demand for long-term care in B.C. has surged, leaving seniors and caregivers to grapple with long waitlists and prolonged wait times, with an average wait time of 242 days. In some cases, seniors wait as long as two to three years.
- The median age of rural communities is significantly higher than urban communities.
- Outsourcing/centralizing in-home support and relocating rural seniors for long-term care disrupts community cohesion and displaces essential family support across generations.
- Although home support services have increased by 11% since 2020 the demand for these services has further outstripped supply and leaving more people without home supports and not less.
- The rising age of population will continue for many years, yet our planning is not keep pace with the future or current demand for services.
- Likewise, adult day programs have grown from 110 in 2019/20 to 124 in 2023/24; however, over 1,200 seniors are still on waitlists for these essential services.
- Seniors Advocate (OSA) 2023 Long-Term Care Resident and Visitor Survey reveal that nearly 40% of residents do not want to live in their current care home.
The BC Rural Health Network and others are championing a shift toward integrating LTC services with other elder support services such as: community hospice, in-home support, and innovative solutions such as temporary accommodations for travelling locums and other medical staff.
We envision a system where small-scale, home-like LTC facilities are integrated into the community, co-located with hospice services and robust outreach and in-home support service provisions. This integrated approach can ensure that quality care is accessible even in our rural communities.
Watch Senior Advocate Dan Levitt explain the challenges and opportunities for LTC in an inspiring video here:
We need your help. We are calling on caregivers and family members who care for someone needing LTC or who have family in LTC, to complete the new survey being distributed across British Columbia. Your voice is critical in shifting away from the business-as-usual approach. Please share your experiences by completing the survey. Please share this survey within your networks and communities to help us advocate for a system that truly meets the needs of our seniors. Click the image below to complete and share the survey:
Join us in making a difference. Complete the survey, spread the word, and let us come together to reshape long-term care for the better.
The BC Rural Health Network (BCRHN) is the healthcare voice of the rural residents of British Columbia and seeks better health outcomes for all people, through solutions-based approaches with governments, and information provision to residents.
The BCRHN is grateful to live, work, and be in relation with people from across many traditional and unceded homelands, covering all regions of British Columbia. We are honoured to live on this land and are committed to reconciliation, decolonization, and building relationships in our communities.
We are a registered charity listed as the RHC Education Foundation (dba. BC Rural Health Network) CRA# 70083 3130 RR0001
