By Hanne Fair

Did you know that according to the 2006 Census, Victoria has the highest proportion of seniors over the age of 80 in Canada? Victoria is the 3rd “oldest” metropolitan area in Canada, just behind Kelowna and Peterborough. If we look at the census data for James Bay, we see that here in our community we have about 14% of our population over the age of 80.

Many of our seniors are active and healthy, and continue to participate in their community through volunteering and activities. Some, however, are faced with declining health, and particularly if they are living alone, may need various kinds of support.  About a year ago, we hired Lisa Gleinzer in a new half-time position as Seniors Outreach Worker, and this role is developing into a key part of our programs here at the James Bay Community Project (JBCP). So what does a Seniors Outreach Worker do?  Lisa’s role includes home visits to seniors to assess what can be done to help them live safely and well in their home and community. Lisa may match a volunteer with a senior client for visits or assistance with services such as walking companions, yard clean-up, medical drives, reading, or home computer tutoring.  She also assists seniors with connecting to other services offered in the community.  In this past year Lisa has assisted seniors to locate services such as VIHA Home and Community Care, Pacifica Housing, Return to Health, HandyDART and Accessible Transit program, meal programs, Elderly Outreach Services, Inter-Cultural Association and Family Caregivers.   Requests for assistance may come directly from a senior, but often come from the adult children of seniors who are concerned about their parent and don’t know where to find help.

Lisa often provides information to the public and puts together resource packages for seniors when she goes out on home visits. Lisa also encourages her clients to participate in community activities in the community, whether that be at New Horizons or James Bay Community School, or here at JBCP.

Currently we have 188 senior clients receiving some type of direct service from JBCP.  Thirty-four new clients have been added since Lisa’s arrival.  She is also involved in the development of S’Aging groups, which are small groups that  meet weekly to provide support and social connection for seniors who are not able to access community programs due to transportation or health concerns.  

Here in James Bay we are indeed fortunate to have many services and supports for seniors, but we do know there are still some needs that are not well met. Seniors whom Lisa has met with tell her they have difficulty with meals and nutrition.  Affordable housing with or without care and affordability and availability of services that do not fall within the mandate of home and community care ( e.g. cleaning and cooking) are also common concerns.  We hope to be able to expand our Seniors Outreach Worker position as we continue to work with other community groups to address these needs.