McGuinty government commits 3,000,000 more personal support worker hours over 3 years
Painting: Daphne Odjig – In Tune with the Infinite
May 15, 2012 McGuinty Government Investing In Patients And Strengthening Health Care Over the next three years, Ontario will help 90,000 more seniors get the care they need to live comfortably in their own homes by adding three million more hours of personal support worker (PSW) care.
PSWs assist people with personal hygiene, light housework and help with delegated health procedures such as changing dressings. Having the support of PSWs enables seniors, people with physical disabilities and those with complex needs to live independently at home — rather than in a hospital or long-term care home.
2010 PSW of the Year: Marlene Magashazi image: www.psno.ca
Helping seniors stay at home longer benefits the entire health care system by freeing up hospital beds for those who need acute care, reducing pressure on emergency rooms and saving money. Increasing PSW hours ensures access to the right care, at the right time, and in the right place, and is part of the McGuinty government’s Action Plan for Health Care
QUOTES
“Health care is an area that is ripe for reform, and our government is working hard to make changes that put the patient first and reduce strain on our hospitals and long-term care homes. Not only does the care provided by personal support workers help seniors get the help they need, where they want it, it has the added benefit of costing less money.”
— Dalton McGuinty, Premier of Ontario
“Seniors tell me that home is where they want to receive care — and that’s why our government is helping our seniors live independently by investing in more PSW hours. We’re making the right choice to expand home care by moving forward with a freeze on doctors’ compensation so we can put the needs of patients first.”
— Deb Matthews, Minister of Health and Long-Term Care
QUICK FACTS
This investment is part of the government’s 2012 Budget commitment to increase funding for community and home care services by an average of four per cent over the next three years.
There are about 26,000 PSWs in Ontario providing home care services.
Personal Support Worker Day is May 16th and recognizes the contributions of PSWs to the province’s health care system.
LEARN MORE
Find out more about community and home care and also Read the McGuinty government’s Action Plan for Health Care.
www.ontario.ca
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Supplemental- www.psno.ca/20101.html
5 Responses to McGuinty government commits 3,000,000 more personal support worker hours over 3 years
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Let’s do the math. 3,000,000 hours over 3 years equals 1,000,000 per year. Divide that by 90,000 seniors gives 1.1 hours or 66 minutes per year per senior. That works out to about 6 seconds per day per senior. How is this expense a help to anyone?
Sorry I was off by a factor of 10. 11.1 hours per year or 666 minutes per year or just under 2 minutes per day. Again seems not a lot of gain for the expenses.
The thing is, numbers are always a bit ‘sketchy’ and facts and figures can always be bandied about to suit one position or another. The real question is, do 90,000 Ontario seniors regularly use Personal Support Worker Care? [ We don't have access to that data, but this seems unlikely ] If so, do all 90,000 have the same needs and requirements [ Again, we don't have this data but it seems unlikely ], thus requiring an equal distribution of that time?
Taking an educated guess, if 1/2 of all Ontario seniors require Personal Support Care and 1/2 of those require the majority of PSW care time, then the #’s break down like this: 45,000 seniors in need of PSW care, 22,500 require 75% of that time 22,500 require 25% of that time. Therefore, 3,000,000 * .75 = 2,250,000 and the remaining 1/2 of the seniors that only require 25% of total PSW care time end up with 750,000 hours.
In one year then, those seniors requiring 75% of total (remember this an increase in hours, not just the total # of hours- are you still with me? ) increase in PSW care will net 2,250,000 hours/3= 750,000 hours or 33.3 EXTRA hours of PSW care per year per Senior the other 750,000 seniors in need of total PSW care time will net 11.1 EXTRA hours of PSW care per year per Senior
So to assure our ‘guesstimate’ is accurate, we need to establish 1) total # of Ontario seniors in need of PSW care 2) % of total # of Ontario seniors in need of MOST of PSW care ie- disabled, infirm etc. and the % of total # of Ontario seniors in need of LESS of PSW care ie- occassional need of PSW care for temporary or irregular challenges such as arthritis etc.
Finally we need to know the CURRENT # of PSW care hours per Ontario senior in need, since McGuinty’s government is committing 3,000,000 MORE not 3,000,000 total over 3 years.
CP
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