HALIFAX, Aug. 24, 2015 /CNW/ -
As we all know, Canada's population is in the middle of a demographic shift. Seniors are the country's fastest growing population segment. By 2036, fully one-quarter of our population will be over age 65. In fact, I'll be one of them.
Addressing the growing and evolving health care needs of Canada's aging population is one of the most pressing policy imperatives of our time. It is also an unfortunate by-product of one of our great victories. We have people living longer – and better – than ever before. What we need now is a health care system ready and able to meet new challenges.
Yesterday and today, physician delegates from across the country discussed "A Policy Framework to Guide a National Seniors Strategy for Canada".
This framework sets out a co-ordinated approach for action in six key areas across the continuum of care:
- wellness and prevention
- primary care
- home care and community support
- acute and specialty care
- long-term care
- palliative care
The CMA and the 35 stakeholder groups that worked with us on this framework believe this country must act now to create a health strategy to ensure seniors have access to effective, integrated health care and supportive community care. This is critical if our seniors are going to enjoy the highest possible quality of life.
This framework outlines what we believe a seniors strategy must contain. What we need to add to the mix now is strong political leadership at the federal level — and the 23,000-plus Canadians who have signed on to demandaplan.ca agree.
In that vein, we were pleased to be joined today by Dr. David Naylor, chair of Health Canada's Advisory Panel on Healthcare Innovation.
As Dr. Naylor said in his remarks, the panel's report includes significant recommendations and we were particularly pleased that the panel urged the federal government to take a more active role in health care system planning and helping to galvanize consensus around structural reforms.
— Dr. Chris Simpson,
President, Canadian Medical Association
SOURCE Canadian Medical Association
CMA Media Relations, [email protected], 613-806-1865
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