Overhaul of elder care needed as dementia rates set to skyrocket in Nunavut: report

Nunavut needs to build a long-term dementia care unit, add dozens of residential long-term care beds and consolidate elder care into one department, says a report by the territory's health department.

Those were just three of several recommendations stemming from a 2014 overview of Nunavut's residential long-term care system, which was tabled in the legislature during the winter sitting. It includedconsultations with elders, health professionals, the Nunavut Housing Corporation and officials from the Department of Justice, Family Services and Culture and Heritage.

The report says at least 25 beds are needed immediately to clear the waiting list for long-term care and up to 72 more beds will be needed by 2035.

CarolineAnawak, the executive director of thePairijaitTigumivikSociety, says those figures underestimate the need.

Sheoperates an elder's home in Iqaluit and says there are currently 40peopleon a waiting list to get a spot in one of its eight rooms.

"These people, by virtue of living much longer now, face all of the diseases and disordersof anyone else who gets old and I don't think there's been the planing or the recognition how many and how great those numbers are," Anawak said.

"[Nunavut]is one of the few places that has no history of ever having to care for somebody like this."

As of July 2014, there werefewer than 150Nunavummuitover the age of 80. The Nunavut Bureau of Statistics predicts that number willquadruple in the next 20 years, bringing a need for more residential care and anincreasein dementia patients.

Dementia rate set to rise by600%

In February, former Health Minister Paul Okalik said the department was aware of six patients with dementia in Nunavut.All of them were referred to facilities outside of the territory.

But the report estimates the actual number of patients to be much higherand expects it to grow drastically over the next two decades.

Usingdata from across Canada on theprevalenceof dementia in people 65 and older, the report estimates therearecurrently20 people with dementia in Nunavut. Based on population projections over the next 20 years, that number is expected to grow by 600 per cent to 120 people.

Thereportrecommendsa secureddementiacare unit be created in Nunavut, in part tokeepresidentsin the territory.

"We're not alone in Nunavut. Other provinces are now trying to deal with this issue. It's quite confusing. They need good care and the caretakers need to be fully trained," Okalik saidin February.

"Therefore, we can't take on that responsibility and we are requesting a budget proposal for dementia care. We need to get support from outside of the territories because we aren't ready to take on this responsibility."

The Department of Health'sbusiness plan includes funding to address dementia careduring the 2018-19 fiscal year.

Elder strategy

One Nunavut MLA doesn't want to wait that long.

In the legislatureWednesday,PatAngnakak'smotion to create a strategy for elders by the start of the fall sitting received unanimous support from MLAs.

"We need to start putting our priorities towards elders, and this government needs to do that," saidAngnakak, who representsIqaluit-Niaqunnguu.

"There's no real strategy," she said. "How do we deal with elder's properly? What is it we need to do? How should we conduct ourselves?"

Consolidating the continuing care system into the Department of Health arecommendationin the report -may be a start. Currently, the system is split between Health and the Department of Family Services.

Planning for the future

Angnakak is addressingthe need for more long-term care beds herself, by starting a non-profit group with the aim of building a 65-bed mixed-residential care facility in Iqaluit.

• Sailivik Society proposes new elder care facility for Iqaluit

"Twentyyears from now, if I think things are expensive now, can you imagine how expensive they're going to be then?"Angnakaksaid.

Her proposed project includes six hospice beds and a dozen dementia beds. It'sreceived support from three other MLAs, the City of Iqaluit, the Qikiqtani Inuit Association, Qikiqtaaluk Corporation and the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.

The Nunavut Housing Corporation has committed totransferringland over to the non-profit toconstructa 65,000 square foot facility, which would also include a daycare.

"The need is great and it's right now,"Angnakaksaid.