B.C. Seniors Advocate Isobel Mackenzie91裸聊视频檚 job is to inform the provincial government about the issues of concern to seniors in communities throughout the province.
But on Wednesday, July 6, she started off a Town Hall type meeting held at the Campbell River Seniors Centre informing the small gathering about some surprising data about the state of senior living in the province.
91裸聊视频淪o overall, in British Columbia, there are over a million people over the age of 65, that91裸聊视频檚 about one out of five, so 20 per cent of British Columbians are 65 and over,91裸聊视频� Mackenzie said. 91裸聊视频淲hich is what we expect, that the proportion of the population 65 and older is going to continue to grow.
91裸聊视频淲hat is interesting to note is that overwhelmingly, the majority 91裸聊视频� 90 per cent of seniors 91裸聊视频� live independently in their own home. I want to emphasize that. I want to emphasize that even at 85 and older, 77 per cent of people live alone 91裸聊视频� 85 and over. And that number rose in the last census.91裸聊视频�
RELATED:
And those one million or more seniors are living longer and are living healthier for longer. They are also driving for longer. We are still dying, she said, but what we are seeing is what is called compressed morbidity where people are ill for only a year or two at the end of their life.
91裸聊视频淪o, that is the general pattern and that is not changing,91裸聊视频� Mackenzie said.
Other eye-opening data that Mackenzie presented dealt with dementia and how it is not as inevitable as you think.
91裸聊视频淓ighty per cent of people over 85 don91裸聊视频檛 have dementia,91裸聊视频� she said.
As you keep going up, if you looked at 90, 95 and 100 years old, the percentage of those with dementia would rise, it is a condition that rises with aging, Mackenzie said.
91裸聊视频淏ut this notion that we live into your 80s and into your 90s, that you91裸聊视频檙e going to automatically develop dementia or have significant cognitive impairment is actually not true,91裸聊视频� she said. 91裸聊视频淵ou might, that is true, but not, necessarily, you will.
91裸聊视频淢ost people will live the entirety of their life not just in their home but with most of their marbles, however many, or few, they ever had.91裸聊视频�
Mackenzie added that while more people are developing dementia in terms of the sheer number, the proportion of people is not increasing, in fact, indications are it91裸聊视频檚 actually decreasing but 91裸聊视频渋t91裸聊视频檚 still early days on that,91裸聊视频� she said.
91裸聊视频淪o, I think that is good news,91裸聊视频� she said.
On the 91裸聊视频渓ess good news side,91裸聊视频� though, is that 91裸聊视频渨hile you91裸聊视频檙e likely to live on your own and you91裸聊视频檙e likely to have most of your marbles, you91裸聊视频檙e also likely to go from driving a car to not having a car,91裸聊视频� Mackenzie said.
91裸聊视频淎nd you91裸聊视频檙e still going to want to get out and about,91裸聊视频� she said.
That will be more challenging in communities like Campbell River than in the west end of Vancouver, for example.
91裸聊视频淎nd so we have to think about that,91裸聊视频� Mackenzie said, 91裸聊视频渁nd decisions we make and how we91裸聊视频檙e going to deal with that.91裸聊视频�
Another factor that will impact the senior years is the fact that for those who are part of a couple, one person is going to pre-decease the other. One person will go from living with somebody to living alone. And the age of which that is likely to happen is getting older.
Challenges facing the elderly across the province involve funding for services.
91裸聊视频淥ne of the biggest issues is the lack of, in B.C., any funding for anything other than health care. Dental care tops the list followed by hearing aids and eyeglasses,91裸聊视频� Mackenzie said.
These are followed by podiatry or, if people need a walker or a wheelchair, there91裸聊视频檚 nothing that covers that cost in B.C. There is some work being done on low incomes and Mackenzie hinted that something was in the works on that front.
Which is important because one of the realities of being old is lower income. The median income of B.C. seniors is $31,000. So that means 50 per cent of B.C. seniors live on less than $31,000. Meanwhile, the average income 91裸聊视频� if you don91裸聊视频檛 include housing 91裸聊视频� is actually $46,000. But the problem with the average income is that it91裸聊视频檚 skewed by very high incomes, Mackenzie said.
Mackenzie also outlined issues like the lack of family physicians but the biggest issue out there is the lack of support of seniors who live in the community, who do not want to move to long term care but are because of the lack of supports in the community.
Mackenzie91裸聊视频檚 visit to Campbell River followed a similar visit to Port McNeill the day before.
RELATED:
editor@campbellrivermirror.com
Like us on and follow us on
