Home-support services | APTS reacts to report on aging well at home

April 04, 2023

Longueuil – The APTS (Alliance du personnel professionnel et technique de la santé et des services sociaux) has taken note of the report on aging well at home, Bien vieillir chez soi : comprendre l'écosystème. Presented this week by Health and Welfare Commissioner Joanne Castonguay as part of a Québec government mandate related to the health care reform plan (Plan Santé), it raises important issues regarding the continuum of care and services for seniors.

“This general analysis of the ecosystem of care and services is crucial to arrive at a better understanding of the challenges faced by seniors as well as the employees who support them on a day-to-day basis,” said Benoit Audet, 3rd vice-president of the APTS. “It also highlights issues that have been worrying the APTS for a long time, particularly the development of compartmentalized services, competition to attract ever scarcer personnel, and the precarious nature of community resources that are complementary to the public system.”

For the APTS, this report by the Health and Welfare Commissioner paves the way for the shift towards home care heralded in the Plan Santé. In this, the first of four volumes, the Commissioner acknowledges the importance of stepping up investment in home care and services, substantially and in a sustained way. This investment needs to come from new funds rather than a transfer from another mission such as CHSLDs or hospitals,  and these funds should be invested in the public system. It’s also important that home-support staff be valued more, and their work overload problem must be addressed.

APTS members such as occupational therapists, physiotherapists and social workers, to list only a few job titles, play a crucial role in supporting seniors living at home.  However, there are too few of them to meet the growing needs of the aging population and concrete measures must be taken to attract and retain personnel.

The APTS will be paying close attention to the Health and Welfare Commissioner’s work, which will have a decisive impact with respect to the Plan Santé as well as Bill 15 establishing the new health agency, Agence Santé Québec. The union intends to scrutinize the Health and Welfare Commissioner’s findings and recommendations on aging at home with a view to promoting concrete measures to improve the quality of life of seniors.

The APTS

The APTS (Alliance du personnel professionnel et technique de la santé et des services sociaux) represents more than 65,000 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.