February 22, 2017 – Wanda Morris, VP of Advocacy for CARP attended a roundtable meeting with the Minister of Health, Jane Philpott, and other key stakeholders to discuss how the federal government can best support provincial and territorial efforts to improve the quality and availability of home and palliative care for Canadians.

The meeting, held on January 10th in Toronto, hosted about 25 representatives from the health and homecare sectors.

“I greatly valued the discussion on the key challenges facing Canadians and their families in need of home care services and the opportunities that exist within our health care system. I also appreciated your insight on how best to measure progress and success,” wrote the Health Minister in a letter following the meeting.

What next?
Over the next several weeks the Health Minister will continue to engage with stakeholders, the provinces and territories and with Indigenous leaders to ensure all Canadians have access to high-quality, patient-centred health care services.

CARP calling for feedback
As part of the on-going consultation with the Health Minister, CARP is asking for feedback from our members.
Please email [email protected] with suggestions on how to improve the quality and availability of home and palliative care for Canadians. Maximum 250 words. Subject line: Home and Palliative Care. You can also post your comments to CARP’s Facebook page.

Did you know that Homecare is one of our top five priorities for CARP for 2017?
Access to homecare is vital for aging Canadians. CARP is calling for the federal liberals to honour their pledge for $3 billion in homecare funding and for the provinces to reallocate resources so more care is provided to patients living at home. If they were terminally ill, 58% of CARP members would choose to be at home; 25% would opt for hospice and less than 1% would want to be hospitalized. Resources need to be allocated to palliative care so that people can end their lives at home or in hospice, with the ease of full medical support and the comfort of loved ones around.

Read more about CARP’s top priorities in its 2017 Impact Report & 2016 Annual Review at carp.ca/news.