Community Healthcare

What is a home? It’s more than a collection of rooms inside four walls. It’s where we are comfortably settled and somewhat independent. Around us are special things we’ve collected over the years. It’s our space. Most of us want to live at home for as long as possible. Community Healthcare Services help us do exactly that, age at home, safe and well.

Studies show that someone turning sixty-five today has almost a 70 percent chance of needing some form of continuing care, support, and services to remain safely at home.

The Community Healthcare Services arm of our healthcare system makes house calls. Some of the services they deliver include occupational therapy, physiotherapy, nursing care, memory care, and palliative care. Assistance with tasks of daily living offered include hygiene, meal set up, and companionship.

Our community is fortunate to be served by a high-functioning home-care team. Dedicated and caring, today they work in 550 homes in our community and make close to 50,000 home visits per year. As the senior population expands over the next 18 to 20 years, the demand for community home care is expected to grow.

Community care affects the rest of the healthcare system:

• When a bone doesn’t break, there’s no need to go to the emergency department, there’s no need for surgery and there’s no need for restorative healthcare, reducing stress on important healthcare resources
• When the medicine is taken as prescribed and the body is well-nourished, there’s no need for emergency intervention
• When living at home remains a safe option, there’s no need to move to long-term care

Ultimately, robust community healthcare means people can live at home safely for as long as possible.

The Foundation works closely with Island Health and professionals within Community Healthcare Services to identify, prioritize and fund needs and opportunities. Sometimes a donation is made to help one person, as was the case when a palliative patient no longer could walk his dog and a donor made it possible for the individual to keep his long-time companion. Donors can brighten the life of one or strengthen the entire system by helping many people. Read about a gift in memory of a loved one that helped launch a cognitive therapy program for people with mild to moderate dementia. 

To learn about our current fundraising for community healthcare, visit our Priorities page.