Answering the Call to Action for an Unprecedented Health Challenge

TORONTO - The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is warning governments to take action on health care funding for the aging. Experts say that one of Canada's strengths since the mid-1990s is that a growing number of people past the age of 55 have been staying in the work force. But if these people don't stay healthy, they cannot continue to work. Good preventive care and improved treatments for the main killers - heart disease and cancer foremost among them - are essential.

The Canadian Geriatrics Society: Part of the Solution!

The CGS advocates that action in the health care sector to sustain Canada's capacity for care of its aging adults must involve:

- Sustained government investment in preventative programs to ensure older people stay healthy and productive

- Increased efforts to recruit medical students and residents into Geriatric Medicine as a specialty, along with promotion of training for family physicians in Care of the Elderly

- Strong standards for continuing professional development (CPD) in Geriatrics for all health care professionals dealing with older patients

- Supportive programs to maximise independence in those with health issues that require some community assistance to enable them to remain in their communities and not in institutional care

Readers of Geriatrics & Aging, one of the two CGS-associated journals, responded passionately about the themes of the IMF report and are speaking out about the importance of quality care for older Canadians.

What the Front-line Doctors Are Saying...

- "The government has to better target and (support) prevention programs, in cooperation with the health care societies, to prevent the morbidities and mortality associated with the polypharmacy and iatrogenic factors affecting the elderly population." -Dr. Eric Theriault

- "...We need to focus on improving our models of care to better serve frail older adults. Better care is not always more expensive care. As geriatricians we know that simple, low tech, interventions (e.g. concentrating on mobility and function, reducing polypharmacy, making peoples' environments as orienting as possible...) can make a big difference..." - Dr. Melissa Andrew

- "Governments must plan for the demographic impact of the aging population in all its forms, and must provide leadership in the promotion of this sector of our population....It requires planning, provision of adequate funding and resources but most of all acceptance of the aging population as productive contributors to society, who can, where health permits, continue to contribute. It also requires acceptance of the obligation to provide the resources and funds necessary to care for the vulnerable senior members of our society" - Dr. Irwin W. Kuzmarov

- "Regrettably our society often makes major changes only after a crisis hits and overwhelming public pressure forces governments to invest in new directions.... If we wait for a crisis we will have no one to blame but ourselves when our health care and that of our families is rationed." - Dr. Frank Molnar