CARP CPP Expansion/Age-Friendly Health Care Poll Report

Key Findings – CPP

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 December 20, 2013: With the federal government publicly refusing to expand CPP, CARP members’ support for the Conservative Party has plummeted, and their support for the Liberals has surged sharply. The NDP do not appear to have benefited from the pension issue as much as the Liberals.

Seven-in-ten CARP members say the current government does not deserve power if it does not expand CPP, and this includes a significant minority of Conservative voters, as well as virtually all Liberal, NDP and Green Party voters.

Age-Friendly Health Care

The majority of members disagree the health system is optimized for older Canadians and close to half have had negative care experiences, mostly caused by lack of or incomplete communication. Wait times and the complexity of the system are seen to be other culprits in frustrating seniors seeking care.

Lack of political will is the chief reason why members think the health care system isn’t more age-friendly, coupled with ageism, a lack of understanding and the perceived unimportance of seniors as a voting bloc. The solutions advanced by members centre on more home care, community-based living and especially, nurse practitioners taking over duties from doctors (a theme throughout CARP’s research). There is wide agreement a more age-friendly system would lead to better health outcomes. House calls are seen as a good way to get a ‘holistic’ view of the patient and to check meds and are seen to be best done by a nurse practitioner.

Unfortunately, just one half our members agree the health care system will be available for them when they need it, and fewer than one tenth are “very confident”.

Please click here to download a full copy of the report 

 

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