Richmond adult day program spaces will help meet demand for seniors’ & respite care

The new program will be co-located in S.U.C.C.E.S.S.’s assisted living facility, Austin Harris Residence, on Moncton Road in Steveston. Space for the adult day program is currently being renovated and will be available to accept clients mid-June 2017.

“More adult day program spaces reinforce the Province’s goal of providing the right care in the right place at the right time,” said John Yap, MLA for Richmond-Steveston. “With these additional supports, seniors will get the appropriate levels of care needed to remain in their homes and avoid moving into residential care before it is necessary.”

Adult day programs serve seniors living in the community to help them stay independent longer. They provide a range of health, social stimulation and therapeutic recreational programs in supportive group settings. Clients attend adult day programs for caregiver and family respite, health status and medication support and monitoring, targeted therapeutic activities, and access to health education. 

“With the support of day program care, seniors with both functional and cognitive needs can live safely in their communities,” said Teresa Wat, MLA for Richmond Centre. “The program has the added benefit of providing a welcome respite for caregivers who are responsible for many of the supports at home.”

Richmond’s older adult population continues to increase at an annual rate of five per cent. With this growth, the need for older adult services continues to expand.

“There is a growing need for adult day programs in Richmond and the added spaces will help meet this demand,” said Linda Reid, MLA for Richmond East. “Seniors want to remain in their homes as long as possible, and programs like this will help them get the care they need while remaining independent.”

The 25 new spaces are expected to deliver 37,650 new service hours annually, serving an additional 125 new clients per year. This will help meet the growing demand for this type of service in Richmond. Vancouver Coastal Health is contributing $520,000 annually in operational funding for the program. 

“Vancouver Coast Health-Richmond is pleased to be partnering with S.U.C.C.E.S.S., which is widely recognized as one of British Columbia's largest social service providers, to create the new Adult Day program spaces in Austin Harris Residence,” said Natalie McCarthy, director for Vancouver Coastal Health-Richmond. “These new spaces will provide significant health and wellness supports to our frail elderly population.”

These expanded day program spaces support the Ministry of Health’s primary and community care strategy. The strategy aims to create a better network of services in the community, which will allow people to remain independent for as long as possible. This will support patients to proactively maintain their health – especially those who use the health system more frequently, such as the frail elderly and people with complex medical conditions.

Vancouver Coastal Health-Richmond has been working for more than a year on a plan to double the number of available Adult Day Program spaces available in the community. Another service provider will soon be announced for the second phase of program expansion in Richmond. When this initiative is complete wait times for this program will be considerably reduced.

Currently, Richmond has the Kinsmen Adult Day Centre, which has 94 clients in its existing program.

“The addition of the adult day program will take S.U.C.C.E.S.S. a step closer to creating “A Campus of Care” in Richmond, which is needed to promote aging in place,” said Queenie Choo, CEO of S.U.C.C.E.S.S. Going forward, I hope S.U.C.C.E.S.S. will have the opportunity to provide more services such as residential and community care to seniors that are culturally sensitive in a diverse community like Richmond.”

Vancouver Coastal Health is responsible for the delivery of $3.4 billion in community, hospital and residential care to more than one million people in communities including Richmond, Vancouver, the North Shore, Sunshine Coast, Sea to Sky corridor, Powell River, Bella Bella and Bella Coola.

Established in 1973, S.U.C.C.E.S.S. is one of the biggest social service agencies in British Columbia. It is a charitable organization providing services in settlement, language training, employment, family and youth counseling, business and economic development, seniors care, housing and community development. For more details, please visit: www.success.bc.ca.

FOR MEDIA INQUIRIES:

Gavin Wilson                                      
Director, Public Affairs
Vancouver Coastal Health
Cell: 604.319.7532
Email: gavin.wilson@vch.ca