Health Minister Tom Osborne, as well as Federal Minister of Labour and Seniors Seamus O’Regan signed a bilateral agreement on Tuesday morning to invest $78 million over the next five years to improve health care for seniors.

Officials say the plan will:

Improve home and community care systems

• Hire additional clinical staff to increase access to care and support.
• Utilize technology for new service delivery models and implement initiatives for timely access to home supports and care needs, medications, and medical equipment based on clinically assessed needs.
• Support individuals living with dementia through new community-based supportive care options and more training courses.
• Increase options for restorative and rehabilitative care in community.

Enhance palliative and end-of-life care

• Support a new 10-bed community hospice in Grand Falls-Windsor.
• Improve access to supports and services for individuals at end of life living at home.
• Improve palliative and end of life care through more training and education opportunities for care providers.

Strengthen the workforce

• Establish a geriatric medicine fellowship at Memorial University.
• Increase training to improve health care outcomes and promote independence and well-being.

Enhance the quality of care and quality of life through improved long-term care standards

• Ensure long term care home standards align with national standards.
• Fund wage increases for more than 1,500 personal support workers employed in personal care homes.
• Implement a person-centred care approach to care through social and recreational programming, access to behaviour management specialists, and advanced dementia care education.