News Release Archive
HEALTH--LOCAL HOME CARE TEST PROJECT SET FOR LAUNCH
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Health Minister Ron Stewart will be on hand this evening at
Bloomfield Centre to launch a small metro area project that could
shape home care for the disabled, on a province-wide basis.
"If this project is successful--and we have every indication
it will be--we'll apply what we've learned to other communities
across Nova Scotia as our home care vision takes shape," the
minister said.
The project, Self-Managed Attendant Services, is sponsored
by the home care program of the Department of Health and
administered by the Metro Resource Centre for Independent Living.
Under the program, 10 participants--five men and five women
ranging in age from 20-45--have had their requirements assessed
and been allotted a sum of up to $2,000 monthly, to buy the
services required.
This model of home care puts the disabled in the driver's
seat, giving them greater flexibility and independence. The
project coordinator provides a monitoring function as well as
ongoing training for the participants.
The individuals involved are coping with conditions such as
cerebral palsy, multiple scerlosis, muscular dystrophy and
quadriplegia. The idea is to provide a tailored form of
government-funded home care that will allow these participants to
maximize their ability to function on their own, and by doing so,
improve their quality of life.
The project will run until the end of November 1995 with
initial funding of $120,000 but an equal amount has also been
earmarked for the program.
"It has the potential to deliver more flexibility at the
same cost or cheaper than traditional home care services," said
Susan McDonald Wilson, the acting provincial director of the
Department of Health's home care program. "But the most
important thing is it will certainly increase the quality of life
for the participants."
The concept is called self-managed home care but it is only
one of seven varieties of care in the home envisioned by the
Department of Health for eventual wider implementation.
Other configurations include chronic home care for those
with long term illnesses and infirmities; replacement home care
for recently discharged hospital patients; palliative home care
for the dying; paediatric home care for disabled, acutely or
chronically ill children under age 16; rehabilitation home care
for convalescents with demonstrated rehabilitation potential; and
extraordinary assistance home care for chronically ill hospital
patients whose conditions have stabilized.
Models of what these other forms of home care could look
like are slated for other communities in the province.
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Contact: Chris Hansen, 424-5925
Bob Sharrow, 453-0004
NOTE TO EDITORS:
Tonight's kick-off will be in Room 112 of the Bloomfield
Centre, Agricola St., Halifax at 7:00. The minister will provide
opening remarks and all 10 participants will be in attendance.
lm January 11, 1995
