Canadians worry about aging loved ones and want government action to help them
For immediate release.
Date: 30 August 2021
(Kingston, Ontario) – Eight in ten Canadians are concerned about a family member or friend becoming frail and many feel unprepared to deal with the situation. This according to the results of a survey conducted on behalf of the Canadian Frailty Network (CFN) by Nanos Research.
The Nanos survey shows that frailty is a concern that strikes close to home. About seven in 10 Canadians are now, have been, or expect to be a caregiver for someone over 65 and make health decisions on their behalf. Four in ten have a family member or friend over 65 that they consider frail.
“The desire of Canadians to live and age at home is strong,” said Dr. John Muscedere of the Canadian Frailty Network. “The vast majority of people want to live out their days at home, even if they are living with frailty. It provides comfort and preserves independence, privacy, and dignity.”
The survey found that more than eight in ten Canadians would be satisfied to live in their own home as long as possible even if they become frail.
The survey results also show that there is overwhelming demand for government action. Nine in ten Canadians want government investment in healthy aging and community programs to help those over 65 who live at home.
“Canadians are asking that their governments get more involved and provide programs to allow people over 65 to live and age in their own homes,” said Muscedere. “They want to see more investment to help aging people to be healthy, access home-based healthcare and stay connected with their community.”
Nine in ten people support or somewhat support having a government program where people over 65 living at home can access home-based healthcare support as long as it is required. The same number of people also support or somewhat support having a government program which encourages people over 65 living at home to stay connected with their local community to be active with social, leisure and physical activities.
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Nanos conducted a representative online survey of 1,504 Canadians, 18 years of age or older, between May 26th and 27th, 2021 as part of an online survey. Participants were randomly recruited by telephone using live agents and administered a survey online. The results were statistically checked and weighted by age and gender using the latest Census information and the sample is geographically stratified to be representative of Canada.
The research was commissioned by Canadian Frailty Network and was conducted by Nanos Research.
CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE SURVEY RESULTS
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About the Canadian Frailty Network
The Canadian Frailty Network (CFN) is Canada’s sole network devoted to improving care for older Canadians living with frailty and supporting their families and caregivers. We do this by increasing frailty recognition and assessment, increasing evidence for decision-making from the bedside to the policy making level, advancing evidence-based changes to care, training the next generation of care professionals and scientists, and engaging with older adults and caregivers. Canadian Frailty Network is funded by the Government of Canada’s Networks of Centres of Excellence (NCE) program. For more information, please visit www.cfn-nce.ca, or follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.