The first year of funding for better care for seniors is proving to be popular among care aides, seniors, and their families.
Minister of Health, Adrian Dix said this is year one of a three-year plan to increase the direct care seniors receive in residential care homes.
“It means, more direct care at the bedside and a better life, more assistance in taking part in social activity. I think, often, in long term care so much of the discussion has been about safety, so much of the discussion has been about keeping people alive and not enough of the discussion is about living.”
The standard of care is 3 point 36 hours per resident per day.
In 2016, the average direct-care hours in B.C. were 3 point 11 per-resident day.
The province has pledged to increase funding for care hours over three years and has committed 240 million dollars to do that.
This year, 48 million dollars was allocated to health authorities to fund over one million more hours of direct care and Vancouver Island got 6 point 4 million of that.
