B.C. falling behind on meeting seniors needs, advocate warns

British Columbia’s seniors advocate says the province is falling behind in meeting the basic needs of its older residents.

Seniors Advocate Dan Levitt says in a report that despite some investments in services for seniors, there are troubling statistics surrounding health care, long-term care, home care, housing, transportation and community services.

While there are some positives in the report, such as seniors living longer and staying healthy longer, he says the numbers tell a story of a system failing to meet seniors’ needs.

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He says the concerns mount as the number of seniors in B.C. grows, rising 45 per cent in the last decade to more than a million people, with forecasts that a quarter of the provincial population will be over 65 years old by 2035.

Levitt says the report shows wait lists for knee and hip replacements for seniors have increased by more than 50 per cent in the last five years.

Almost 6,500 seniors were waiting for publicly subsidized long-term care beds in the last year, which he says is an increase of 250 per cent over the last five years.