Wednesday, April 13, 2011 The Review.ca16

Healthy lifestyles and seniors

Dalkeith kicked off its 200th anniversary celebrations with a canoe run down the Rigaud River on Sunday. About 50 canoeists and a handful of kayakers set out from a bridge at the Lochinvar and Tannery road intersection around 10:15 a.m. Sunday. Less than three hours later, they began arriving at the north edge of the village of Dalkeith where the river passes under the bridge on county road 23. Volunteers from the Dalkeith Historical Society proivded food and drinks. This group photograph is shared with you courtesy of the Vankleek Hill Canoeists, an informal group of paddlers who get together for local and wilderness canoe trips. Find out more about the Dalkeith Bicentennial celebrations at:www.acorn2011.com and check out the Vankleek Hill Canoeists at: http://www.betterfarming.com/vkh/c_home

At the end of the canoe trip, the Dalkeith Historical Society welcomed paddlers at the Dalkeith bridge. Paddlers were served free food and the historical society was selling its heritage cookbooks, raffle tickets and sharing information about upcoming bicentennial events in 2011. At left: well-wishers gathered along the route to wave at paddlers and encourage them on their journey. PHOTOS AMELIA SPROULE

History, of course, is the order of the day at all of the bicentennial events in Dalkeith this year. Above, a display about Robertson Mills was set up at the end point of the Canoe Run. The Dalkeith Historical Society has compiled a book containing dozens of historical photos and information. The book will go on sale soon. PHOTO AMELIA SPROULE

Above, Dalkeith Historical Society member Frances Fraser, fittingly attired in a kilt, is seen here paddling along the Rigaud River on Sunday. PHOTO AMELIA SPROULE

Report �nds more than 10,000 on waiting list for long-term care in Ontario

ONTARIO – More than 0,000 Ontarians are “still waiting” for access to long-term care serv-ices, according to a report released on Monday, April 4.

The report, entitled “Still Waiting: An As-sessment of Ontario’s Home Care System after Two Decades of Restructuring” was released by the Ontario Health Coalition and indicates the province’s home-care system is “plagued by in-adequate services, inequitable access to care and poor oversight.”

There are numerous key findings outlined in the report, including that for more than 2 years, provincial auditors have reported that ac-cess to home care across Ontario is inequitable – with some Community Care Access Centres (CCACs) receiving up to double the funding that others receive.

The report notes there are no standards for access to care. Huge wait lists have persisted for more than a decade, totaling more than 0,000 people since 999.

In addition, home care funding is decreas-ing as a proportion of health spending, from 5.5 per cent to less than 4.5 per cent between 999 and 200. Funding per home care client has de-creased from $3,846 in 2003 to $3,003 in 2009.

The report states that administrative costs are

high, with those and case management taking up 30 per cent of CCAC budgets and totaling more than $500 million.

“This report is meant to be a wake up call for all Ontario political parties as we lead into the provincial election,” said Derrell Dular, manag-ing director of the Older Canadians Network, in a recent press release.

The report also reveals that 8,500 hospital beds have been closed since 990 and other hos-pital services such as outpatient rehabilitation are being cut across Ontario.

While patients are being downloaded from hospitals, too often there are inadequate servic-es in the community.

Long-term care a struggle locallyAccording to statistics compiled by the On-

tario Health Quality Council, wait times for long-term care beds in Ontario have tripled

over the past five years.The council states that the average wait time

for a long-term care bed in Ontario is more than three months and up to 73 days for peo-ple waiting at home. For those waiting in hos-pital to be moved to a long-term care home, the average wait is 53 days, resulting in 6 per cent of expensive acute-care beds being taken up by people who do not need them.

Locally, the situation isn’t much better. Su-zanne Charest, senior communications manag-er with the Champlain Community Care Ac-cess Centre (CCAC), told The Review there are 20 long-term care homes in the united coun-tries of Prescott-Russell and Stormont-Dun-das-Glengarry.

She said there are ,704 long-term care beds in the region and the number of unique clients waiting to be placed in long-term care homes is ,089.

“The average wait time to be placed is 8 days,” she stated. “That represents only those who have been placed, not the length of time for all those on the list and this number is skewed by the number of clients moving from hospi-tals when they are in bed crises. Due to the high number of clients in crisis being admitted to long-term care, the average person is most like-ly waiting much longer than 8 days.”

Charest noted that if a person on the waiting list gets to a “crisis point,” they will move high-er up the list.

“For example, if someone is suffering from dementia and their in-home caregiver dies, that’s considered a crisis situation,” she ex-plained. “That person would then take higher priority and be moved further up the list.”

Not only is the long-term care waiting list impacting seniors citizens and long-term care homes, it is also having a negative impact on lo-cal hospitals.

Marc Lariviere, discharge planner at the Hawkesbury and District General Hospital, said the waiting list is a “big issue” for the hos-pital.

He said the hospital has 66 beds in total, in-cluding 48 acute-care beds and 8 rehabilitation beds. He said often, those beds are being tak-en up by people who do not need them, which means space is limited for those who do.

Kim Peterson, vice-president of client serv-ices with the Champlain CCAC, said the re-port is alarming, but some steps are being taken to make the situation a little better.

“It’s disheartening,” she said. “We know there are problems and we are doing what we can to make it better. It’s not easy, but we’re trying.”

BY LIANNE LAHAIEllahaie@thereview.ca Huge waiting lists for long-term care

have persisted for decades. There are currently more than 10,000 people waiting for long-term care in the province.

Province plans to take action against sexual violenceTORONTO – The government says it is taking important next steps to make the province saf-er for all women.

Statistics indicate more than one-third of women 6 years and older have experienced some form of sexual assault. In 82 per cent of cases, the victim and the accused are known to each other.

Ontario is launching its Sexual Violence Ac-

tion Plan to both prevent sexual violence and improve supports for survivors.

The plan includes programs designed to: prevent sexual violence through increased pub-lic education, including initiatives that reflect the diversity of communities across the prov-ince, and expand and improve access to a wide range of services for survivors of sexual vio-lence, including supports on the front lines and

in healthcare settings.The plan also aims to strengthen the crim-

inal justice system’s response toward sexual vi-olence, including increasing coordination and training for police, crown counsel and other justice personnel.

The announcement follows province-wide consultations with survivors, service providers, and experts.