Supportive Housings

One of our clients in my practicum aged 90 cannot apply for supportive housing. She had been a widow for almost 20 years and does not have children or any family members. Her friends died a long time ago. She needs to be in a supportive housing for safety purposes since she is demented. She forgets to close the oven most of the time and tends forget her medication. She does not have any social activities as well. If she will be in a supportive housing there will be someone who can look after her and check her medication. Although there is a Home Care Attendant who looks after her but with limited time. She needs twenty four hours of care.

I conducted a tour of six supportive housing facilities here in Winnipeg last September/October 2010. I visited these Supportive Housing facilities because I needed to become familiar with the programs and services that the facilities offer. As a social work student who is doing practicum at WRHA this gave me knowledge as to who and when to refer clients.

I discovered many things during my tour. I found out that in every supportive housing facility, women have 90% more population than men. Interestingly, according to Moris et al. (1999), “women have more life expectancy than men...and women tend to outlive their husbands” (p. 3). This clearly shows that there are more population of elderly women than elderly men. I also discovered different things in supportive housing facilities. Some of them are much safer and much convenient in terms of programs and services. Seniors have different kind of activities every day and they are well taken care of. Seniors can garden during summertime and can go to the veranda and sit for a while for coffee. Some of the facilities have a friendly environment and I think seniors enjoys being in there. The services can be accessed right on the site like, salons, spas, jewellery shops, bookstore, and etc.

However, there are also supportive housing facilities that do not have many activities and are not safe for seniors in terms of people going in and out of the building especially around down town areas. There are also supportive housings that are intended for low income elderly people. Which means that services are not as good compared to those middle income supportive housing facilities. I am really concerned because those seniors who do not have sufficient income just end up with a supportive housing that does not have sufficient services for seniors to enjoy the last days of their lives.

Nothing is going to be worst if a client cannot go for a supportive housing because of the eligibility criteria set. According to Winnipeg Regional Health Authority to be eligible for a client to be accepted is to “have a family member or advocate that are in agreement with philosophy of the program and accept that a move to another suitable location will be necessary when the individual no longer meets the criteria of the supportive Housing Program” (Supportive Housing Criteria, n.d.).

What if the client does not have a family member or an advocate? Considering the fact that she has outlived all her family members and has no friends and other relatives who will visit and can take him/her for an appointment? Would that be just demeaning again on the client to be in a supportive housing? Since elder women comprise most of the elderly population then women are more affected than men. Sometimes clients don’t have family members who can take them for an appointment. I think Supportive Housing should change their criteria especially in terms of accepting the client with or without family members who can take them for an appointment.

Reference:

Morris, M., Robinson, J., Simpson, J., Galey, S., Kirby, S., Martin, L., & Muzychka, M. ( 1999). The changing nature of home care and its impact on Women’s vulnerability to poverty. Status of Women Canada. Retrieved April 2, 2011, from

http://dsp-psd.pwgsc.gc.ca/collectionSW21-49-1999-IE.pdf.

Winnipeg Regional Health Authority. Supportive Housing Entry Criteria # 4 doc. n.d.