Pulse 2012 - (Page 30)

Healthy aging The value of home and community care Janet M. Lum Department of Politics and Public Administration Canada’s population is rapidly aging. While many older people are remaining healthier for longer than was the case in previous generations, the cost of caring for their health and well-being is on the rise. The sums allocated by governments across the country are not, however, keeping step with this increasing need. For example, while about 40 per cent of Ontario’s annual budget is for health care, roughly two per cent of that amount goes directly to community agencies that provide home and community care. According to Janet Lum, one of the main reasons for this “paltry level” of spending is the absence of evidence proving that such investments are a cost-effective way of keeping people at home (where they wish to be) and preventing unnecessary hospital visits. “My mission is to gather and synthesize the best available evidence on home and community care,” says Lum. “A big part of that mission is also to ensure the data get into the hands of Canada’s policy planners and decision-makers.” As co-chair of the Canadian Research Network for Care in the Community (CRNCC), Lum is at the helm of a network that brings together more than 500 national and international academic and community researchers; professional, health, social and community-care providers; consumers; policy-analysts; and students. Funded by Ryerson University and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the CRNCC supports collaborative, community-driven research and knowledge translation in home and community care (see www.crncc.ca). “When we integrate health-care with home and community care, and when we manage it around individuals’ needs, we can improve the quality of older peoples’ lives and help maintain their independence.” Lum believes that taking this approach is also one of the best ways to help sustain Canada’s health-care system because it reduces the use of more expensive acute and institutional care. “Sound policy,” Lum observes, “can lead to excellent care for older people and effective financial management of the public purse.” ■ Janet Lum gathers data to show how home and community care improves the quality of older peoples’ lives. 30 Pulse Health Research and Innovation at Ryerson  http://www.crncc.ca

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Pulse 2012

Ryerson Alumni - Pulse 2012
Contents
Elizabeth McCay
Trevor A. Hart
Centre for Global Health and Health Equity
Martin M. Anthony
Thomas Tenkate
Fiona Yeudall
Sri Krishman
Ana Pejović-Milić
Victor Yang
Souraya Sidani
Colleen E. Carney
Centre for Health in At-Risk Populations
Catherine Beauchemin
Habiba Bourgherara
Raffi Karshafian and Michael C. Kolios
Jahan Tavakkoli
Russell D. Viirre
Donna Koller
Faith Donald
Judy Finlay
Janet M. Lum
Deborah Fels
Jason Nolan
Bionik Laboratories Inc.
Institute for Stress and Wellbeing Research
Ontario Multicultural Health Applied Research Network
Computational Biomedical Physics Laboratory

Pulse 2012

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