Home Care Ontario Launches Campaign to Highlight Urgent Need for More Home Care
White Paper, Website, Facebook Page draw attention to need for more home care funding in Ontario.
TORONTO, Jan. 24, 2018 /CNW/ - Today Home Care Ontario, the voice of home care in OntarioTM, launched a campaign to bring attention to the underfunding in home care. The campaign advocates for an annual investment of $600 million to fund more frontline home care to help ease hospital overcrowding, and meet increased demand for professional home caregivers.
"The home care system is at a tipping point," said Sue VanderBent, CEO, Home Care Ontario. "People want and need more home care, but government underfunding over the past decade has meant they are actually getting less. Home Care Ontario will be using this campaign to educate the public and help them advocate for the investment we need to provide more care for loved ones."
The cornerstone is a call for $600 million more annually, which would mean 9 million more personal support worker visits, 5.1 million more nursing visits, and funding to begin to meet the increased demand for therapy and other home care services.
Home Care Ontario is inviting Ontarians to visit morehomecare.ca, a new digital activation site, to learn more and have their voice heard. The campaign also includes:
- A new Facebook Page Facebook.com/homecareontario;
- The launch of a whitepaper More Home Care for Me And You: Preparing Ontario's Home Care System for the Challenges of Tomorrow; and,
- Online ads educating the public about the importance of home care.
"730,000 Ontarians receive home care services and the demand is only going to increase with our aging population. Funding has stagnated at only 5% of the total health care budget and more investment is required to provide the care Ontarians need and take pressure off our hospitals and long-term care facilities," concluded VanderBent. "The benefits of home care delivered by professional nurses, therapists, and personal support workers are well established. This supports families, patients and communities. Together we can make our voices heard."
About Home Care Ontario
Home Care Ontario, the voice of home care in OntarioTM, is a member‐based organization with a mandate to promote growth and development of the home care sector through advocacy, knowledge transfer, and member service. Home Care Ontario members include those engaged in and/or supportive of home‐based health care. In Ontario, service provider organizations are responsible for providing nursing care, home support services, personal care, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, social work, dietetics, speech language therapy and medical equipment and supplies in the home to individuals of all ages. An estimated 58 million hours of publicly and privately purchased home care service is provided annually across the province.
SOURCE Ontario Home Care Association
Sue VanderBent, CEO, Home Care Ontario, [email protected], 905-543-9474
Share this article