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Longueuil – Because Québec lacks a bold political vision and appropriate levels of investment, too many older adults find themselves without the care, services and support they need. According to the APTS (Alliance du personnel professionnel et technique de la santé et des services sociaux), this is a reality we need to face. The union is launching a campaign today to shine a light on the impact of the public system’s underfunding, and its increasing privatization, on the lives of seniors and their loved ones.

“Every day, our members see older people who have been waiting months or even years to get a spot in an institution that will meet their needs,” said APTS president Robert Comeau. “Meanwhile, they lose their autonomy, they fall, they face complications, and far too often they end up in the hospital. These waiting periods are destroying people’s lives.”

“Our members also tell us about the painful realities experienced by older people who are struggling to keep on living in their home,” added APTS vice-president Émilie Charbonneau. “When home care is privatized, insufficient, fragmented, and inferior in terms of quality, caregivers become exhausted, access becomes even more unequal, and the health and dignity of seniors are undermined.”

The campaign, “Facing the reality of old age: what if we dared to do it?”, focuses on two areas of concern:

·        residences for seniors: unbearable waiting periods, exorbitant costs for private institutions, people forced to uproot themselves, uneven quality of services, lack of government oversight;

·        home care: massive reliance on outsourcing to private companies, insufficient staff training, lack of service continuity, inequality made worse by the service employment cheque.

Going beyond this analysis, the campaign wants to give a voice to seniors and to the caregivers and support workers who are glad to accompany them every day, but who do so at the expense of their own health and well-being. The APTS encourages Quebecers to share their own experiences on the union’s Facebook page. Their stories will make the voices of older people and their loved ones heard and will help the union in its demands for concrete solutions.

“We can no longer accept that in Québec, growing old with dignity should be a privilege reserved only for those who can afford it,” said Robert Comeau. “Seniors deserve a strong, accessible, high-quality public system, and our members – who carry the full weight of this system on their shoulders – are asking the government to show political courage.”

Find out more: Facing the reality of old age

The APTS

The APTS (Alliance du personnel professionnel et technique de la santé et des services sociaux) represents more than 68,000 members who play a key role in ensuring that health and social services institutions run smoothly. Our members provide a wide range of services for all Quebecers, including diagnostic, rehabilitation, nutrition, psychosocial intervention, clinical support, and prevention services.