Greetings from the Seniors Health Innovations Hub

Housing Team Update – Village Canada – We need your help!

Over the summer the Village Canada Consortium (VC) met with Yasir Naqvi, the MP representing Confederation Heights, and were very encouraged by his support for our vision of a non-profit, dynamic, inclusive, intergenerational seniors’ village on surplus federal land in his riding.

This project aligns with the Carney government’s policy of using surplus federal land for development of federally-built housing to address the crisis in affordable housing in Canada. A new federal organization, Build Canada Homes published a Market Sounding Guide in August and the response by Village Canada is here.

There are more than twenty organizations involved in the Consortium, hoping that the federal government will be willing to enter into a long-term lease. The area of most interest is on a hill to the south of the RA centre – formerly CRA buildings and the surrounding land – about 23 acres. The Village will provide technologically advanced, sustainable housing with a range of supportive services for older adults (from independent living to long-term care), adults with disabilities and students. There is room for several community non profits to pursue their housing goals working cooperatively.  This PowerPoint presentation summarizes the project.

There is some urgency to provide this type of housing as large numbers of boomers are entering a stage where they will require additional support, which is in short supply. This innovative approach to supportive living will allow seniors to age in place longer and in a more stimulating intergenerational environment. 

If this vision appeals to you, we encourage you to write to your MP, MPP or City Councillor telling them that you want to see this development proceed. The representatives for Confederation Heights are: MP yasir.naqvi@parl.gc.ca;  MPP mckenney-co@ndp.on.ca and Councillor capitalward@ottawa.ca. As well, you can write to the Canada Lands Company (at confederationheights@clc-sic.ca) who are managing the process to develop a Masterplan.

Primary Care Team Update

For many readers, the June forum titled “Primary Care for Older Adults – An Urgent Need” was your first introduction to us. The approximately 300 attendees (in-person and online) heard from health care experts from across the city about primary care and learned about other useful information for those of us who want to age in place.

The Forum webpage has been updated with the biographies, the recording, presentations and the Resources document. The purpose of the Resources document is to capture those items that address our 3^rd goal of the Forum: Provide strategies to support healthy aging.  It is organized by the content given by the various speakers followed by other resources that the SHIH Primary Care Team thought would be beneficial to you and/or your caregiver(s).

We encourage all SHIH subscribers to take a look at the scope of the materials presented even if you did not attend.

The Primary Care Team continues to advocate for seniors in central Ottawa to receive the primary care required for healthy aging.

●   Thank you to all who attended the forum and provided feedback.  It was evident from the comments that there are many significant challenges in the current system.  It has encouraged us to continue to explore ways we can influence / improve access to primary care.

●   We continue our partnership with the Centretown Community Health Centre (CCHC) concerning the primary care needs of older adults.  They have asked us to use our network to help to find primary care providers willing to work with them. We draw your attention to this request from the CCHC:

Centretown Community Health Centre is developing a collaborative plan to expand access to primary care in our community. We are looking to connect with physicians and nurse practitioners who serve patients in Centretown, the Glebe, or Old Ottawa South. Our goal is to explore opportunities to strengthen collaboration, reduce administrative burden, and improve timely access to care. If you are interested in learning more or getting involved, please complete this short survey: https://forms.gle/f2NbWvvBSsk6JGr56.

●   We will keep you apprised of our efforts to get primary care for older adults in Ottawa and may call upon you for assistance in sending the message to the provincial government that primary care for older adults remains an urgent need.

New primary care providers From time to time, we learn about new and expanding clinics. Please note the SHIH does not endorse any of them.

Ottawa Nurse Practitioner-Led Clinic – They are a not-for-profit, community-based primary care clinic funded by the Ontario Ministry of Health.  Their team provides patient-centered care to residents of Vanier and Overbrook living in the K1L and K1K postal code areas.

The Elmvale Medical Centre is currently accepting new patients at these locations:

      Greenbank Medical Centre

      Longfield Medical Centre

      Clyde Medical Centre

      Elmvale Medical Centre

The South March Medical Clinic, a family health organization, is planning to relocate in early November and offer enrollment for new patients.

Technology Team Update

McMaster Aging Portal https://www.mcmasteroptimalaging.org has incredible resources to promote and support healthy aging.  We encourage you to checkout their offerings such as this one that is technology-specific:

Recently we became aware of this early September release from Employment and Social Development Canada that we want to share with you:

In June 2021, the Federal/Provincial/Territorial Ministers Responsible for Seniors Forum identified the role of technology to enhance aging in place and to help seniors and caregivers as a key Forum priority for the 2022 to 2025 work cycle.  They recently released the report entitled The Impact of Internet Connectivity and Technological Tools on Reducing Seniors’ Social Isolation and Loneliness During the Pandemic and Beyond. 

This report examines the use of internet connectivity and technological tools among seniors, caregivers and senior-serving organizations, the impact of this on reducing seniors’ social isolation and loneliness during the pandemic, and how seniors’ usage of the internet and technology has changed from pre-pandemic.

To stay up to date on future consultation activities and news related to seniors, follow the Seniors in Canada Facebook page.

Please feel free to forward this update to others who may be interested.