Home Care and Volunteers in Rural Ontario

Many benefit from home care services. This allows people to go home, rather than be an Alternate Level of Care (ALC) resident in hospital.

Meals on Wheels delivery

Fortunately, Ontario has a range of services to allow the ill or frail to stay in their homes. Of course, this is not always the best placement for all. The risk of falls is severe for many. Home care nurses and personal support workers (PSW) are not always available and doctors do not make house calls. Adult children are often called upon to give the extra care needed, and this can be a drain for us as we try to juggle jobs and family.

I volunteer for Community Home Support - Lanark County. Currently, I have two clients. One I accompany to doctor's visits. This takes 5 hours from my leaving my home to returning, by the time I get my client into her wheelchair and onto the wheeltrans bus. Another client I visit for a couple of hours a week. Both have physical and mental health issues. Both are at risk for falls, and have family members who are not able to provide home care. If a client falls at home, it could take hours or days for someone to find them.


VOLUNTEERS
Compassion - Action - Impact

respite care

Over the 2010/2011 fiscal year, 825 volunteers have served 2322 clients. We are very fortunate to have these caring individuals on our team. Their commitment to our community is tremendous. Thank you to all for your time and effort!

Community Home Support -Lanark County STATISTICS
We are constantly amazed by the number of hours (48,065) our devoted volunteers donate to improve the lives of our clients.

Meals on Wheels 
In the fiscal year (April 1, 2010, to March 31, 2011), 23,798 meals have been delivered.

Transportation
Rural client services differ from urban, in the distance volunteers travel each year (843,316 km; more than 21 times the distance around the equator) to care for our residents. In all, 9153.5 trips have been made.

Many groups offer subsidized transportation, such as Lanark Transportation Association. It can be cheaper to take LTA, than to drive and park in the city. Many elderly spouses have a hard time getting spousal wheelchairs in and out of cars.

Diner’s Clubs 
There have been 4111 days of participation in our congregate dining programs.

Foot care
A total of 676 individuals have received foot care in our office clinics.

Friendly Visiting, respite care
Friendly visits have been made 1379 times to individuals by phone; to homes, long-term care and retirement homes.

Security/Reassurance
Clients have been comforted by a visit or a phone call a total of 2040 times.

Home Help/Maintenance
To help seniors remain in their homes longer, we have contracted 11,498 hours of assistance.

Income Tax 

A typical Meals on Wheels meal

Assistance has been provided to 288 clients.

Hospice

Friendly visiting in LTC

We’ve made 5450 visits this past year. That equals nearly a visit a day for 14 years to retirement homes, long-term care or hospital settings!



MEALS ON WHEELS
This past month, 30 - 40 meals have been delivered each day, five days a week, in the Perth Area alone. Coordinated and delivered by thirty-five or more dedicated volunteers, this service is
offerred in many areas. Call 211, or visit 211Ontario.ca to find a Meals on Wheels in your area.


My husband delivers and dispatches Meals a couple of day a week. We gave a tour of the food prep room to Dr. Brian Goldman, of White Coat Black Art.

Dr. Brian Goldman, interviewing me for his

White Coat, Black Art Unpaid Caregivers Radio show.

What a thrill! For more information about my book.