By Canadian Immigrant Magazine |
By Canadian Immigrant Magazine |
On Nov. 23, the Asian Canadian Seniors Health Network (ACSHN), a newly formed alliance of community groups in B.C., hosted a roundtable to address the importance of culturally sensitive care and its impact on the quality of life for Asian-Canadian seniors.
Around 30 guests from Vancouver Coastal Health, Fraser Health Authority , service organizations like SUCCESS, PICS and Nikkei Seniors Home, and other institutes and organizations such as UBC, BC Office of Ombudsperson and Office of Seniors Advocate were participants.
Based on the dialogue at the roundtable, ACSHN presented the following key recommendations for enhancing the health and wellbeing of Asian Canadian seniors in B.C.
Key recommendations for enhancing seniors wellbeing
Recommendation 1: With changing demographics and growing senior population, it is important to consider culturally sensitive care for seniors as a crucial factor in planning and evaluating new proposals for residential care beds in the future.
Recommendation 2: A preliminary study done by SFU Gerontology Research Institute reveals that the needs for culturally sensitive care for Canadian Asian seniors are required and currently under served.
Recommendation 3: We urge the government to invest in improved staging of care in existing culturally sensitive facilities and the creation of new beds to meet the increasing demands.
Recommendation 4: Additional resources are to be allocated to support enhanced assisted living to meet the complex health needs of the seniors in existing assisted living facilities.