More financial support is needed for Alberta’s chronically under-funded home care system, which is leaving many disabled people fearing for their future, says Friends of Medicare.
The group’s executive director, Chris Gallaway, said the government is failing to meet the needs of many Albertans by not considering inflation, population growth and an aging demographic when it funded home care in the 2023 budget.
While the provincial government talks about caring for more people in the community, will more funding for home care follow? “We do not have the data on this,” said Gallaway, who urges the government to “cost it out” and put adequate money into home care services in the upcoming 2024 budget.
“We are not seeing the commitment to fund the expansion needed for that growth,” he added.
In a video conference on Tuesday, Gallaway spoke of the 127,000 seniors and disabled Albertans who depend on home care are not getting their basic needs met.
Among them is Daniel Ennett, a filmmaker, activist and amputee, who was assessed at needing only 6.6 hours of home care a day, even though he’s awake for 16 hours and needs assistance throughout this care “gap.”
Ennett said his single mother has been his unpaid primary caregiver for 30 years. “She has had to liquidate her savings and quit her job.” Now that she’s 66 years old, with hip problems, Ennett said he’s being put into the position of having to “exploit” other friends and family to help him with his daily needs, or “I will have to be institutionalized.”
“I deserve to live in my community without being punished for needing care,” Ennett added.
Disabled advocate Erin Novakowski, with a degenerative spinal condition, also spoke of her fear of being institutionalized one day when her parents, who are approaching their 70s, can no longer care for her.
The University of Calgary student said she needs help getting out of bed, with her meals and showering. Although she aims for a career in teaching, she noted government-funded home care support is clawed back if you earn additional money. Clients are then expected to pay out-of-pocket for some previously covered services, keeping them in a cycle of poverty.
Novakowski said it’s “truly terrifying” to think of losing autonomy if she has no family support one day and can’t pay for additional home care.
Ennett feels it’s unfair that family caregivers already pay taxes and yet are expected to provide “$12 billion in unpaid labour” that their tax money should be covering.
Gallaway stressed Alberta’s home care workers also deserve fair pay and good working conditions.
Friends of Medicare has started a petition on its website to pressure the provincial government to put more money into at-home supports.