Long-term care is the only option for some seniors. Is enhanced assisted living a better way?

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This local solution enabled those patients to get out of hospital, have somewhere to go where they had the support they needed, and in many cases prevented them from ever needing long-term care.

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“It’s been a huge success. We don’t know why it doesn’t exist in other complexes,” Rousseau-Pistilli said.

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According to a recent report from the Ontario Community Support Association, AdvantAGE Ontario and Woodgreen, similar models exist in France and the Netherlands, and it is also growing in Canada — Nova Scotia and British Columbia are expanding housing models that integrate around-the-clock care.

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While some jurisdictions in Ontario have begun to implement these housing models in recent years, they are one-off projects, mostly led by non-profit operators and not recognized as a distinct part of the housing and care continuum in Ontario.

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Making it an official pathway in Ontario’s system of care, the report says, would provide a stable housing option for those seniors whose needs fall somewhere between the existing endpoints.

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That cohort of seniors is rising rapidly in Ottawa, and, in the absence of an official middle ground, the current housing options are scarce.

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Grace Welch, a member of the Council on Aging of Ottawa’s Age-Friendly housing committee, says that there needs to be more affordable and accessible choices in the city and that more enhanced assisted living would be a welcome addition.

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“There are very, very few supportive housing for seniors. It’s either staying at home or going into long-term care,” Welch said.

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“It’s a bit bleak. There aren’t very many options available.”

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Most people want to stay in their homes as they age, Welch said, but home care is limited in scope.

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Once episodic home care is no longer suitable for someone, there are few reliable alternatives before resorting to long-term care. There are retirement homes, which are private and often prohibitively expensive, Welch said. Options for non-profit retirement homes like Abbeyfield House in Ottawa are rare, she added, and access is limited. Some supportive housing for seniors exists, but getting in is challenging.

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Welch says the province needs to look at more innovative models for keeping seniors independent and out of long-term care, not only in the form of enhanced assisted living, but also by investing in naturally occurring retirement communities.

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These are buildings or neighbourhoods with a high concentration of older adults who’ve banded together to bring services to their community, such as wellness and health services, social or recreational programming, personal care, and meal services.

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There are 170 of these communities in Ottawa, five of which have official funding to provide some form of support services to residents, but that funding will dry up in March despite its potential, Welch said.

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The need for that type of innovation in the health-care system is urgent, she added.

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Grace Welch, a member of the Council on Aging of Ottawa’s Age-Friendly housing committee, says that there needs to be more affordable and accessible choices in the city and that more enhanced assisted living would be a welcome addition. Photo by Ashley Fraser /POSTMEDIA

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Nearly one in five Canadians is 65 or older, and that figure is expected to grow significantly in the coming years. According to official population projections from Ontario, the number of Canadians 65 or older will grow to 4.6 million, or 22.7 per cent of the population, by 2051.

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While the number of beds in long-term care is on the rise, it’s not increasing rapidly enough to meet the growth in population. A report from the Financial Accountability Office of Ontario said that, despite the fact the number of long-term care beds in the province will grow from 82,128 to 88,324 by 2029, it actually represents a decline on a per-capita basis.