Monitoring Seniors’ Services 2016 www.seniorsadvocatebc.ca 1-877-952-3181 Contents Highlights . 4 Table of Acronyms . 6 B.C. Seniors Population . 7 Health Care . 8 Seniors with Regular Doctors . 8 Dementia . 9 First Link . 9 Home Care – Home Support . 10 Clients . 10 Hours . 10 Home Care – Professional Services . 12 Clients . 12 Visits . 12 Home Care – Complaints . 13 Complaint Resolution . 14 Assisted Living . 14 Residences . 14 Waitlist . 16 Cost . 16 Complaints . 17 Site Inspections . 18 Incident Reporting . 18 Resident to Staff Aggression . 18 Resident to Resident Aggression . 18 Police Incident . 19 Unexpected Death . 19 Missing/Wandering . 19 Disease Outbreak . 19 Abuse or Neglect . 19 Falls . 19 Fire/Flood/Gas Leak . 19 Attempted Suicide . 19 Residential Care Facilities . 20 Beds . 20 Admissions . 21 Preferred Bed Access . 22 Waitlists . 23 Complaints . 23 Complaint Resolution . 24 Annual Inspections . 25 Facilities Licensing – Complaints . 25 Facilities Licensing – Reportable Incidents . 27 Abuse or Neglect . 27 Disease Outbreak . 27 Falls with Injury . 27 Resident to Resident Aggression . 27 Missing or Wandering Person . 28 Use of Antipsychotics Without a Diagnosis of Psychosis . 28 MONITORING SENIORS’ SERVICES 1 Housing . 29 Renting in B .C . 29 Shelter Aid for Elderly Renters . 30 Recipients . 31 Subsidy Amounts . 32 Applications . 32 Seniors’ Subsidized Housing . 33 Recipients . 33 Seniors Waiting for SSH . 34 Homeowners . 34 Homeownership Costs . 34 Property Tax Deferment . 35 Transportation . 37 Service by Community . 37 HandyDART . 37 Clients . 37 Ride Requests . 38 Regular Rides Provided . 39 Unfilled Ride Requests . 39 TransLink Standby Rides . 39 Rides Delivered On Time . 40 Taxi Saver Program . 40 Complaints . 41 BC Bus Pass Program . 43 Active Drivers . 43 Income Support . 45 The Cost of Living in B .C . 45 Federal and Provincial Income Supports . 45 MSP Premium Assistance . 47 Supplementary Benefits . 49 Drug Coverage . 49 Dispensing Fees . 51 Elder Abuse . 52 Public Guardian and Trustee . 52 Seniors Abuse and Information Line . 54 211 Helpline . 55 Summary . 57 Appendices . 58 Appendix A . 58 Appendix B . 61 Appendix C . 62 Appendix D . 64 Data Sources . 73 2 MONITORING SENIORS’ SERVICES December 2016 This report marks the second year the Office of the Seniors Advocate has released its findings in relation to our legislated function of monitoring seniors’ services in the province. This is a key part of the work we do and offers us the ability to track over time trends in various areas from residential care wait times and home support hours to seniors’ housing and transportation services. While this information is available from a variety of sources, our intent is that this report enables both the public and service providers to have an opportunity to see the overall picture of seniors’ service delivery in a single resource. Since our office began in 2014, we have seen variations in service levels both in terms of year over year performance, and when we compare services relative to different areas of the province. This year, there is no question there.