Nine in 10 Canadians say all Governments Should Cooperate to Develop a National Strategy for Seniors Health Care

Toronto, ON - The Canadian Medical Association's (CMA) annual report card on the health care system reveals that nine out of 10 (93%) Canadians polled by Ipsos Reid support a national seniors strategy and believe it would augment the overall health care system (90%). Canadians overwhelmingly support a national strategy on seniors care that addresses the need for care provided at home, hospitals, long-term care facilities and hospices. In addition, they believe a comprehensive strategy on seniors care would be beneficial to Canada's health care system overall.

When it comes to building such a strategy, nine out of 10 (89%) believe that development of a national strategy on seniors care should involve federal, provincial, territorial and municipal levels of government. In particular, four in five (78%) say the federal government has an important role to play in developing this strategy. Although governments support provision of care for seniors in their homes, six out of 10 (57%) of Canadians don't believe there are enough services in their area to help seniors live at home. Furthermore, for those who will not be able to stay at home, six out of 10 (59%) don't believe that hospitals and longer-term care facilities can handle the needs of seniors in their area.

When thinking about their retirement years, Canadians have many concerns on the health care front. More than four in five (83%) are `concerned' (50% very/33% somewhat) about their ability to maintain their health in retirement. Other concerns of Canadians when reflecting on retirement include:

• Having access to a high quality acute care health system - 79% concerned.
• Having access to high quality home care and long-term care - 77% concerned.
• Their financial situation - 71% concerned.

The findings suggest many Canadians would like a comprehensive system because they believe they're likely to need the system's support should they require extensive care in retirement. Three in five (60%) say that they would need to rely on a public system if they ever needed home or long-term care, while a minority of just over one in three (34%) say they have plans in place to ensure that they can afford home or long-term care if needed.

Recognition of the need for a comprehensive seniors health care strategy may also stem from the belief among many Canadians that seniors are the heaviest system service users. More than four in five (82%) Canadians `agree' (45% strongly/37% somewhat) that seniors consume more health care services than younger Canadians.

The results show a majority (63%) believe that home and community care should be the most important focus for governments when improving system quality for senior citizens, compared to one in four (24%) who believe this focus should be on care provided in hospitals and long-term care facilities and one in 10 (12%) who say end-of-life care, designed to make patients' final days and week comfortable, should be given primary emphasis.

In fact, if they were in charge of developing a national strategy on seniors health, the top priorities of Canadians would be emphasizing the importance of home and community-based care. Very high priorities include:

• Increasing training for home and community care givers - 68%.
• Long-term home care for aging Canadians - 66%.
• Community services, like Meals on Wheels, designed to help seniors' live at home longer - 66%.
• Increasing access to long term-care facilities - 60%.
• End-of-life care provided at home - 57%.
• Short-term, rehabilitation home care for patients who have had surgery - 56%.
• End-of-life care provided in hospitals, hospices and long-term care facilities - 51%.
• Home-based mental health care - 48%.

Rating the Quality of Health Care in Canada...

Since 2001, the CMA has asked Canadians to assign letter grades to their health care system overall and to a number of key aspects of the system.

The following section provides these results for all questions asked from 2001 to 2013. The questions asked in years 2001-2009, and then in 2013, were asked via a telephone survey. The questions asked in 2010, 2011 and 2012 were asked via an online survey.

Online surveys typically yield a higher proportion of `don't know' responses and this can be seen when respondents are evaluating the more specific aspects (where they are not as familiar) of the health system. If one looks across the entirety of the data collected for the Annual Report there is quite a bit of variation year to year and when there were changes in the data collection method. However, overall, the combined A and B marks for the overall system and for most of the key aspects have remained fairly flat, especially from 2009 to 2013.

Please see the 2013 Annual Report Card for a full report on all of the questions asked in this year's survey.

These are some of the findings of an Ipsos Reid survey conducted between July 17 and 26 on behalf of the Canadian Medical Association (CMA). For this survey, a nationally-representative sample of 1,000 Canadians adults (ages 18 and over) were interviewed via telephone using random digit dialing. Weighting was then employed to balance demographics to ensure that the sample's composition reflects that of the adult population according to Census data and to provide results intended to approximate the sample universe. The survey is accurate to within +/- 3.1 percentage points had all Canadians adults been surveyed. All sample surveys and polls may be subject to other sources of error, including, but not limited to coverage error and measurement error.

For more information on this news release, please contact:

Mike Colledge
President
Ipsos Reid
Public Affairs
613.688.8971
[email protected]

About Ipsos Reid

Ipsos Reid is Canada's market intelligence leader, the country's leading provider of public opinion research, and research partner for loyalty and forecasting and modelling insights. With operations in eight cities, Ipsos Reid employs more than 600 research professionals and support staff in Canada. The company has the biggest network of telephone call centres in the country, as well as the largest pre-recruited household and online panels. Ipsos Reid's marketing research and public affairs practices offer the premier suite of research vehicles in Canada, all of which provide clients with actionable and relevant information. Staffed with seasoned research consultants with extensive industry-specific backgrounds, Ipsos Reid offers syndicated information or custom solutions across key sectors of the Canadian economy, including consumer packaged goods, financial services, automotive, retail, and technology & telecommunications. Ipsos Reid is an Ipsos company, a leading global survey-based market research group.

To learn more, please visit www.ipsos.ca.

About Ipsos

Ipsos is an independent market research company controlled and managed by research professionals. Founded in France in 1975, Ipsos has grown into a worldwide research group with a strong presence in all key markets. In October 2011 Ipsos completed the acquisition of Synovate. The combination forms the world's third largest market research company.

With offices in 85 countries, Ipsos delivers insightful expertise across six research specializations: advertising, customer loyalty, marketing, media, public affairs research, and survey management.

Ipsos researchers assess market potential and interpret market trends. They develop and build brands. They help clients build long-term relationships with their customers. They test advertising and study audience responses to various media and they measure public opinion around the globe.

Ipsos has been listed on the Paris Stock Exchange since 1999 and generated global revenues of e1,789 billion (2.300 billion USD) in 2012.

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