The following statement was given today in the House of Assembly by the Honourable Susan Sullivan, Minister of Health and Community Services

Paid Family Caregiving Home Support Option Will Offer More Choices to New Home Support Clients

Mr. Speaker, as a government, we are deeply committed to providing a model of care to seniors and adults with disabilities that is sustainable over the long term and achieves positive outcomes for families and their loved ones.

Development of a paid family caregiving option has been carefully considered to ensure it will provide a quality care option for those who will use it. The complexity of developing this program is highlighted by the fact that no other Canadian jurisdiction has developed a policy that aligns with our vision.

Our design objective with the Paid Family Caregiving Option is to increase a client’s flexibility and choice by making it easier for adults, who require and are assessed as eligible for home support, to hire a family member. Through this option, we will broaden the definition of family members who can provide care to include parents, children, grandparents, grandchildren, siblings and relatives residing in the same home. This excludes spouses and common-law partners as there is still the expectation that the natural caregiving roles provided by these individuals will continue.

Beginning in January, training will be provided to appropriate staff of the regional health authorities who oversee the Home Support Program. The training will ensure that staff has adequate time to become familiar with this new option and the requirements for assessing a family member’s ability to provide care. Once training is complete, this option will then be made available to 250 new home support clients beginning in March 2014.

An evaluation of the program will be carried out after the initial 18 months to help determine the interest in the program, uptake and satisfaction, workload and financial impacts and most importantly, client and quality care outcomes. The evaluation will inform decision-making with respect to expansion to current home support clients and will also support program modifications.

Over this 18-month period, we will ensure there is a high level of accountability and parameters in place to ensure that client safety, quality of care and satisfaction are paramount.

Mr. Speaker, for more information on this caregiving option, interested individuals can contact 1-855-653-6440.

Thank you.

2013 12 09                                     1:50 p.m.