Ontario announces Funding to Expand Home Care Services
The Ontario government has announced funding to strengthen home and community care across the province for patients and their families, by increasing access to services by an estimated 2.6 million additional hours and developing new patient- and family-friendly supports. The announcement of new funding will support;
- 1.5 million additional hours of personal support services, which includes help with bathing, dressing and exercising.
- 390,000 additional hours of nursing care, which includes one-on-one care from a nurse for services such as palliative care, wound care and dressing changes.
- 110,000 additional hours of therapy, which includes speech and language therapy, occupational therapy and physiotherapy services.
- 600,000 additional hours of respite services for caregivers, such as personal support or nursing, so that they can schedule breaks for rest, family commitments or other priorities.
The province will also be:
- Creating new, innovative self-directed care models to provide eligible clients and caregivers with more control over their care. This will include the establishment of a new personal support services organization in early 2018.
- Launching a new caregiver organization in spring 2018, which will provide support and resources across the province, including a single access point for information, resources and services to help them in their roles.
- Introducing a new framework for home-care assessments and planning based on the level of care needed by an individual, to improve consistency and transparency of available services. The framework will give clients and caregivers more predictability about how much home care they have access to.
- Providing additional funding for community supports, such as meals on wheels and day programs that support clients and caregivers.
Implications for Occupational Therapists
While increased funding for home care services is welcomed, OSOT identifies that the investment in therapy services including occupational therapy falls short of the resource needed to meet the needs of Ontarians. OSOT will continue to advocate for increased attention to the important contribution of occupational therapists that supports transitions home from hospital, promotes safe self-management and/or caregiving and, when time enables....promotes maximization of functional ability to reduce reliance on caregivers and personal support workers. This important work can save the health system both in minimizing care support needs and preventing hospital readmissions.
OSOT continues to promote evidence-informed models such as OTs working in collaboration with PSWs when clients are first referred to the service as was trialled with success in the Central West CCAC. The
Home Independence Program has roots in Australia.
The Society would be interested to hear from members working in home care across the province. What is happening with respect to funding for home care OT in your region? Contact us at
osot@osot.on.ca.