ElderWeb

The Canadian Institute for Health Information has released a new report called "Health Care in Canada 2000". This report looks at the performance of Canada's health care system, including the way that it adapts to the health care needs of seniors. The report analyzed the Canadian system, and compared it to systems in the United States, Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. In general, the report found that the confidence Canadians have in their health care system has dropped in the last 10 years. In 1991 about of Canadians 60% rated their system as good or better, but that had dropped to only about 25% by the year 2000.

Although only 12% of Canadians are age 65 or older, they account for 43% of all health care spending by provincial and territorial governments. Canadian seniors rated the quality of their medical care lower than did seniors in the United States, Australia, or New Zealand, although they were happier with their care than seniors in the United Kingdom.

About 185,000 Canadian seniors were living in nursing homes and other institutions in 1996/97. The average age of women in these facilities was 83 and the average age of men was far lower, 69. In addition, about 12% of Canadian seniors received publicly-funded home care services.

The report found that about 26% of Canadian seniors who had children often relied on their children as caregivers. One in four Canadians reported providing some sort of care to a family member in their home, and a study in Alberta found that 36% of respondents reported providing some sort of emotional, personal, or financial support to a family member in the last six months.

Both nurses and doctors in Canada are getting older themselves, leading to concerns about who will provide care to aging Canadians in the future. Nearly 40% of the physicians in Canada were age 50 or older in 1999, up from 35% in 1995. 90% of the nurses in Canada are over age 30, and more than 24% are age 50 or older.