Ontarians and Long-Term Health Care

Toronto, ON -- A new survey released today shows that six in ten (60%) Ontarians are concerned (43% "very concerned", 18% "concerned") about the affordability of Long-Term Care for themselves or another family member. Another 27 percent of Ontarians say that they are "somewhat concerned". In addition to affordability concerns, six in ten (57%) are concerned about the availability of Long-Term Care facilities when the need arises (40% "very concerned", 17% "concerned"). Three in ten (29%) Ontarians say that they are "somewhat concerned".

• Women are more likely to be concerned about the affordability (65%) and availability (62%) of long-term health care than men (55% and 51%).

These are the findings of an Ipsos-Reid poll conducted between February 6th and February 19th, 2001. The poll is based on a randomly selected sample of 1,000 adult Ontarians. With a sample of this size, the results are considered accurate to within 177 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, of what they would have been had the entire adult Ontario population been polled. The margin of error will be larger within regions and for other sub-groupings of the survey population. These data were statistically weighted to ensure the sample's regional and age/sex composition reflects that of the actual Ontario population according to the 1996 Census data.

The survey results were released at the 2001 Annual Meeting and Convention of the Ontario Association of Non-Profit Homes and Services for Seniors (OANHSS).

Although only one in ten (11%) Ontarians currently have someone in their immediate family who is in a Long-Term Care facility, half (50%) think that it is either "very likely" (38%) or "likely" (12%) that they or a member of their immediate family will require Long-Term Care in the next 20 years. A further quarter (24%) think it is "somewhat likely" that a loved one will require Long-Term Care.

Two-thirds (68%) of Ontarians say that Long-Term Care is "very important" (46%) or "important" (22%) to them. Another 25 percent say that Long-Term Care is "somewhat important" to them. Less than one in ten (8%) say that Long-Term Care is "not very important" (6%) or "not at all important" (2%) to them.

Sixty-three percent of Ontarians say that they are currently taking steps to ensure that they will have sufficient savings set aside for "the possibility of requiring Long-Term Care in the future". Of those, half (50%) say they have used their RRSP to prepare for this, while 38 percent say they "are spending less, saving more or watching their money". Meanwhile, 37 percent of Ontarians say that they not currently taking steps to save for future Long-Term Care.

• Ontarians aged 55 and older (72%) and 35 to 54 (69%) are more likely to be currently saving for the possibility of Long-Term Care than those aged 18 to 34 (50%).
• Those earning $60k or more (70%) and between $30k to $60k (65%) are more likely to be saving for the possibility of Long-Term Care than those earning less than $30k (41%).

But, among the more than one-third (37%) who are not currently setting aside savings for the possibility of their Long-Term Care, half (55%) think that they will need to begin setting aside savings for the future.

Ontarians are fairly split on the performance of the provincial government with regard to its investing and providing Long-Term Care facilities in Ontario. One-third (32%) think that the provincial government is doing either a "poor" (22%) or "very poor" (11%) job, while 21 percent think the government is doing either a "good" (19%) or "excellent" (2%) job. The remaining 46 percent rate the government's performance as "fair" (41%) or are unsure (5%).

• University graduates (39%) are more likely to rate the government's performance regarding Long-Term Care as poor or very poor than those with a high school education or less (27%) or some post secondary education (24%).

When asked who they think Long-Term Care facilities for the aged should be operated by, a majority (56%) indicate "a mix of for-profit companies and not-for-profit organizations" followed by 39 percent who prefer "not-for-profit organizations only". Only 3 percent opt for "for-profit companies".

• University graduates (62%) are more likely to support a mix of the organizations than those with high school education or less (50%).
• Ontarians earning $60k (64%) or more are more likely to support a mix of the organizations compared to those earning less than $30k (44%).

For more information on this news release, please contact:

John Wright
Senior Vice President
Public Affairs
Ipsos-Reid
(416) 324-2900