VANCOUVER - An international forum held Jan. 15 brought together government and health authority leaders, researchers and international experts to discuss best practices in home care for seniors.

"We owe it to the people who helped build this province to modernize our home and community care system," said Health Minister Terry Lake. "This forum brought key researchers from around the world together with B.C. leaders in one room and created an opportunity for us to learn from experts and share ideas on improving home-care support for seniors and their caregivers."

A summary of the findings from the forum will be made available to the public in the coming months. The ministry will review the ideas in the summary to examine its practices and improve the care seniors receive in B.C.

The international forum was hosted by the B.C. Ministry of Health in partnership with the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research in Vancouver. Some key objectives were:

• To discuss the driving forces for reforms in home care for seniors and strategies currently underway.
• To examine what changes are underway in how home care is organized, financed, provided, governed, regulated and assessed.
• To look at the evidence that exists in other jurisdictions as a way of showing the effect of system-level policy changes to home care and to the outcomes for seniors and their caregivers.

"The Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research supports a vibrant research enterprise in B.C. that is recognized worldwide for innovative discoveries that improve health and save lives," said Dr. Diane Finegood, president and CEO of the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research. "A growing seniors' population is a shared challenge among jurisdictions, and we welcomed the opportunity to bring together the Ministry of Health, the health authorities and international experts to learn from each other and understand best practices."

Examining best practices in seniors' home care was a commitment made in the Ministry of Health's Seniors Action Plan. The information from the forum will contribute to the Ministry's efforts to improve home and community care from seniors.

Learn More:

Seniors Action Plan: http://www.gov.bc.ca/seniorsactionplan/

Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research: http://www.msfhr.org/

A backgrounder follows.

Media Contact:

Kristy Anderson
Media Relations Manager
Ministry of Health
250 952-1887 (media line)

BACKGROUNDER

Best Practices in Seniors Home Care: International Forum

Held in Vancouver on Jan. 15, 2014, the Best Practices in Seniors Home Care: International Forum brought together a variety of stakeholders including government and health authority leaders, B.C. researchers and international experts in research and policy for a focused discussion on the best practices in home care for seniors.

Speakers:

Mr. Gerald Pilkington

Gerald Pilkington has over 28 years of experience working in health and social care across the independent sector (acute, long-term care and rehabilitation) and National Health Services. Working with services and academic research teams, he built the most comprehensive body of evidence of the effectiveness of home care re-ablement within the UK.

Dr. Gill Lewin

Dr. Gill Lewin currently holds two positions, research director at Silver Chain and professor of ageing at Curtin University of Technology in Australia. Dr. Lewin has been working in health and aged-care research since joining Silver Chain to manage their Research Department 20 years ago.

Dr. Virpi Timonen

Dr. Virpi Timonen is professor of social policy and ageing at Trinity College Dublin, Ireland, and adjunct professor of social and public policy at the University of Jyväskylä, Finland. Dr. Timonen has published over 60 peer-reviewed articles and chapters on social gerontology and welfare-state responses to population ageing in leading international journals and books. Dr. Timonen has made influential contributions to policy formulation and critique in the area of long-term care services, in particular home-care provision in Ireland and other European countries.

Dr. Ryutaro Takahashi

Dr. Ryutaro Takahashi graduated from Kyoto University school of medicine in 1976, and trained as an internal medicine resident at the Department of Geriatric Medicine in Kyoto University hospital and Tokyo Metropolitan Geriatric Hospital. His main area of research is focused on quality of life and end-of-life care for frail older people. Dr. Takahashi is conducting a study on promotion of the advanced care directive among older people.

Dr. Giovanni Lamura

Dr. Giovanni Lamura is a social gerontologist with an international and interdisciplinary background, working at the Italian National Institute of Health and Science on Ageing since 1992. He has gained experience in international research projects mainly focused on family and long-term care of dependent older people, work-life balance and migrant care work, in addition to prevention of elder abuse and neglect.

Dr. Hildegard Theobald

Dr. Hildegard Theobald is professor of organizational gerontology at the University of Vechta, Germany. In her research on home care she focuses on cross-country comparisons of long-term care policies, the intersection of national and international policy developments, as well as its effects on professional care services, care users, caregivers and care workers.

Media Contact:

Kristy Anderson
Media Relations Manager
Ministry of Health
250 952-1887 (media line)