The Alzheimer Society of B.C. responds to call for feedback on new long-term care act

The Alzheimer Society of B.C. is committed to ensuring that the voices of people affected by dementia are included in developing policies and laws that affect them. We have recently responded to the federal government's call for feedback on the Safe Long-Term Care Act. Our submission represents consultations with people with lived experience and highlights specific concerns that we believe should be addressed in the proposed Act. Read the submission here.

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted long-standing systemic challenges in long-term care homes across Canada, including inadequate staffing levels, increasing resident needs, outdated infrastructure and quality of care. In response to these challenges, the Standards Council of Canada, Health Standards Organization and the Canadian Standards Association Group released two new complementary, independent long-term care standards. With these standards released, the federal government is now developing the laws to enforce the standards and has requested feedback from the public.

The Alzheimer Society of B.C. supports the intention to develop long-term care standards. However, we are acutely aware of the broader systemic challenges facing the long-term care system – specifically the lack of resourcing for care homes and the critical staff shortages compromising safety for the people who live within them. Our feedback reflects the need for federal funding in Canada's long-term care sector, including a targeted senior's care funding transfer to provinces and territories, to support each jurisdiction to focus on priority areas. This is critical as the number of people living with dementia in B.C. expected to triple over the next 25 years and we prepare for their care. The scale is the biggest challenge we face in providing dementia support to British Columbians.