Hello and Happy Spring!

In this time of tariffs, taxes and promises, we’d like to bring you a few messages that may have a more direct impact on your lives. This is what the SHIH has been doing since January 2025.

Primary Care Team

1. Save-the-date and spread the word! Wednesday June 18 from 6-8 p.m.!

A Forum on Finding Solutions for Primary Care for Older Adults: An Urgent Need will be held at Southminster United Church, 15 Aylmer Ave on Wednesday, June 18 from 6-8 p.m.

Keynote speaker: Dr. Benoit Robert, Chief Medical Officer at Perley Health and a renowned seniors’ health expert.

Our goal is to build awareness of the crisis in primary care for older adults, to discuss related strategies and other solutions to promote healthy aging. The intended audience includes older adults and their families, as well as stakeholder and advocacy groups.

The event will be in person and online. Attendance is free including complimentary refreshments. The venue is accessible; the details on bus routes and parking are available at the bottom of this webpage. The Agenda, online registration and other information will be found on the SHIH website as they become available and will be emailed to you via our Mailchimp account.

This event is co-hosted by the Seniors Health Innovations Hub and Shawn Menard, City Councillor for Capital Ward.

2. Get Connected

If you don’t have primary care, be sure to register on Health Care Connect by either using this link or phone 1-800-445-1822. Many of you have been on the list for years without success. However, Ontario Health is using this information to connect Ontarians to new primary care teams.

3. Ontario Interprofessional Primary Care Team Expansion Update

On January 27th, 2025, the Government of Ontario announced that it is investing $1.8 billion to support the Primary Care Action Team’s action plan to connect every person in Ontario to primary care. As part of this plan, the government will invest in over 300 new and expanded interprofessional primary care teams through a multi-year funding process that would attach approximately two million people to primary care by 2029.

On April 10, 2025 the Government of Ontario announced Round 1, in which they will invest in up to 80 new and expanded primary care teams, attaching 300,000 more people to primary care in 2025/26. This is the first round of a multi-year investment. The deadline for proposal submissions by the Ontario Health Teams to Toronto is May 2 and funding decisions will be announced in the summer. Round 2 is anticipated to launch in September 2025.

Home Care and Community Support and Caregivers
Organizing Group

Our organizing group will contact those on the home care and community support list this summer to see if there is interest in forming a team in the autumn. The mandate of the team will be determined by the interests of those who come forward.

In the meantime, we are committed to keeping you up to date on activities related to aging in the community. Upcoming events include:

1. Neighbours Helping Neighbours Workshop

Facilitators: Shelagh Tuddenham and Mary

March, Friday May 30 1:00 – 4:00 pm (Dining room of Abbotsford Seniors Centre)

This 3-hour workshop will provide you with basic information so that you may feel comfortable “sitting” with a family member, friend, or neighbour in order to give a primary caregiver a temporary break. The workshop was created by the Victorian Order of Nurses. The Facilitators are members of the Ottawa Branch, National Association of Federal Retirees, and volunteer their time to deliver the workshop. Both Shelagh and Mary have personal experience as caregivers for family members. Registration is required: phone Abbotsford Seniors Centre, 613.230.5730 to reserve a spot. FREE for Members.

2. Ottawa Adaptive Living Expo

Carleton University May 31, 2025 – 11:00am – 3:00pm
COST: FREE TO ATTEND and registration is on Eventbrite.

3. The Council on Aging (COA) in Ottawa hosts a highly recommended course, Smart
Aging. Keep an eye on their Calendar of Events for the next offering of the course. Their calendar includes both activities presented by the COA and those in the community—worth being added to their email list.

4. The City of Ottawa has tabled a motion passed by the Community Services
Committee April. 22, 2025 (see here for full report/background information) and put
forward by Councillor T. Kavanagh – Supporting Aging in Place through Naturally Occurring Retirement Communities. Council will vote on the motion on April 30.

5. There is a new website called AccessCSS for all the available community support
services in Eastern Ontario. We find it very user friendly.

6. There will be a meeting on establishing a horizontal NORC in Alta Vista sponsored by Seniors Watch of Alta Vista on May 6, 1:30 to 3:30 at Rideau Park United Church. If you have questions, call Francine at 613-736-7449 and leave a message.

7. The National Association of Federal Retirees (NAFR), Ottawa Branch, posts a list of
activities and webinars hosted by them, as well as other groups. This month we note some interesting free events in conjunction with Connected Canadians (CC), a seniors-focused non-profit that has been helpful to the SHIH. You may be interested in the joint NAFR/CC session on using Chat GPT as well as many other free events and webinars.

As ever, there are activities and volunteer opportunities available in the community. We suggest contacting Abbotsford Seniors Centre at the number above or South-East Ottawa Community Health Centre at 613-737-5115.

Housing Team

As we mentioned in the last update, our Village Canada proposal is seeking a long term lease of 23 acres of federal land (ideally the Data Centre complex on Data Service Road, off Riverside Drive) in order for anon-profit consortium to develop several hundred housing units of varying size and ownership models, including affordable and market housing.

This exciting complex would include bachelor units to accommodate seniors and students, co-op housing, independent living condos and all levels of supportive living through to long-term care. It would attract local businesses providing services such as restaurants, cafeterias, supportive health care and entertainment. It is closely connected to the RA Centre, with whom we are working to develop their long-term plan.

Recent events in relation to the project:

1. Architecture students in their final year at Carleton University were tasked with
   developing a ‘concept design’ for Village Canada. They presented their designs at a session on Thursday, April 17 with members of the team and their professor Jerry Hacker, present. Their effort assists in furthering the concept and making it more tangible for proponents to use in moving forward to the federal government.
2. Yasir Naqvi made a public commitment to seeing Village Canada put in place.
3. Every political party is making housing an issue, with the Liberal government
   pledging to use federal property for building affordable housing, a component of this
   proposal.

Although the Village Canada concept was developed in advance of the present threats from the south, we think that our elbows up proposal is an ideal legacy—built by Canadians, for Canadians for generations to come.

Technology Team

The SHIH Technology Team has been working for some time with the National Innovation Hub which involves AGE-WELL and SAM3 (Sensors and Analytics for Monitoring Mobility and Memory) and a collaboration between Carleton University and Bruyère Health.

Abbotsford House recently hosted a Speaker Series presentation given by Dr. Bruce Wallace, an engineer at Carleton University, on Enabling Aging-in-Place Supportive Smart Home Solutions.

Carleton University needs participants for a Focus Group

The Computer Science Department is in the early stages of developing a toolkit to help design remote healthcare technology for older adults in Canada.

They are conducting small focus groups with professionals knowledgeable about digital solutions for healthcare and/or older adults. No technical expertise is needed. You might be a good fit if you are: a researcher, designer, or developer; comfortable speaking English; experienced in digital solutions for healthcare and/or older adults; familiar with design thinking or brainstorming activities; and familiar with online whiteboards like Mural, Miro, or Canva.

Selected participants attend only 1 session which will be ~90 minutes via Zoom. Sessions will be video/audio recorded for note taking purposes. Participants are compensated $75.00. The sessions are planned for the weeks of April 28 and May 5, and if needed, May 12. If you would like to participate or have questions, email PhD student daniela.napoli@carleton.ca.