FREDERICTON – The future of a strategy meant to help keep seniors in their homes longer is up in the air.
Last May, the Conservative government announced the “Home First” strategy, a three-year program that would roll out in stages. The strategy was meant to find out what seniors needed to live as long as they’d like at home.
Lorayne Thompson, 86, would have considered the strategy before she made the decision to go to a seniors’ home.
“There’s times that I think, at the age I am, I think, ‘Oh my. I wonder what could happen to me,'” she said from her condo in Moncton.
Thompson will be moving to a seniors’ home next month.
Former Social Development Minister Madeleine Dubé said the first stage of the program was supposed to be happening by now.
The first stage included home assessments to see if renovations or modifications needed to be done to make the home safer.
“There was $7-million attached to start to do some implementation and I asked the Minister of Social Development and nothing has been done,” shes said. “So everything is on the table I guess. Including cancelling that strategy and starting all over again.”
Social Development Minister Cathy Rogers has said the program is a worthwhile one but the province would like to review it before moving forward with it.
But Dubé says seniors need something to be done soon.
“I feel very, very sad for seniors. Because as we speak, we have many, many seniors living in hospitals,” she said.
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