With nearly 30 per cent of Powell River’s population being seniors, it is undoubtably a retirement community. According to last year’s Vital Signs report, our area has the ninth largest percentage of seniors in Canada.
Without question, our community is aging, and will continue to age. As explored in this issue’s cover story, local seniors are doing their best to “age in place,” meaning they are trying their best to be healthy at home without relying on care homes and tapped health resources.
This begs the question of why Powell River doesn’t have the services and infrastructure to support the number of seniors here.
It includes things as simple as sufficient sidewalks and bus service. Let’s not get started on that ridiculous once-every-45-minutes-to-an-hour bus schedule that has been running in Powell River for decades. If our seniors cannot even get around easily, that is a huge problem.
While transportation and accessibility is one issue, for seniors, Powell River General Hospital is also sorely lacking. The Peak has reported on specifics, such as not having enough dialysis machines for patients in need, but a geriatrics-dedicated specialist would be the most plausible start. How can a city with so many aging residents function properly without a doctor who specializes in their health issues?
Couple the obvious gap in health services with a ferry system that is unreliable at best and it’s no wonder so many seniors have anxiety about out-of-town appointments and having access to the healthcare they need.
Aging in place is a wonderful concept if a community has the services available, but that’s not the case in Powell River. Aging in place becomes more like aging in a ferry lineup.
A recent research project conducted by Powell River Division of Family Practice project manager Christien Kaaij identified some of the actions Powell River needs to take to address the challenges many seniors face.
Among the recommendations, Kaaij suggested upgrading the hospital, accessing grant funding to improve health services, improving accessibility and transportation, bringing in that much-needed geriatrics specialist, continuing efforts to increase seniors housing and much, much more.
These are our elders. We need to find tangible ways to help them in every way possible.
Jason Schreurs, publisher/editor
