Duane Hicks
Whether the problem is getting a doctor’s appointment, having access to transportation, or a lack of affordable housing, local residents feel there’s work to be done if Fort Frances wants to be an “Age Friendly Community.”
A total of 351 citizens responded to the “Age Friendly Community” survey launched in November, and their opinions now will form the basis of an action plan to help make Fort Frances a better place for seniors to live.
“Age Friendly Community” co-ordinator Ian Simpson said the survey results were not too surprising for the most part, but the information is valuable nonetheless.
“There was nothing, probably, that if you or I sat down, we couldn’t have figured out,” he conceded.
“But now we have the survey to back it up.”
Seniors’ housing was one of the major concerns identified by survey respondents.
“The waiting time to get into Rainycrest, for example, is a concern,” noted Simpson, adding so is the fact there are minimal assisted-living opportunities here.
“Fort Frances is one of the few communities that doesn’t have an assisted-living building–Kenora has one, Dryden has one, and there are others in other communities in Northwestern Ontario,” he stressed.
Simpson said there had been a drive to get assisted living going here with the Assisted Living Action Group (A.L.A.G.), of which he was involved.
“We ran into a brick wall and it kind of fizzled,” he remarked. “We couldn’t get going.
“But there is definitely a need for assisted living for those older adults that don’t meet the criteria to get into Rainycrest, but just need a little bit of help to live independently,” he explained.
Simpson added the survey also showed there’s “insufficient affordable housing” while home maintenance services and programs that could help an older adult stay in their current home “aren’t really well-known.”
Another area of concern is transportation for older adults.
“From the survey and the comments, we found there was definitely transportation opportunities available, but seniors were not always aware of them and that was the problem,” Simpson said.
What’s more, some of the options, like “Dial-A-Ride,” requires older adults to fix their schedule according to it.
“It’s difficult because you don’t know what the schedule for ‘Dial-A-Ride’ is going to be until everybody phones in,” Simpson noted.
“If you’re setting up a doctor’s appointment, you can’t base it on when you get your transportation.”
Getting transportation to medical appointments out-of-town also is a problem for older adults who don’t drive.
“There’s probably a need for some sort of subsidized bus program between at least Fort Frances and Thunder Bay,” Simpson suggested.
While delivery services for groceries and other goods can help alleviate local transportation issues for older adults who don’t drive, Simpson said these services are “not easily found and not always affordable.”
Another serious concern is the doctor shortage locally, with Simpson noting seniors are experiencing difficulty finding a primary care provider.
On top of that, respondents felt the hospital care system is inadequate and there’s not enough short- or long-term care options for older adults.
The cost of living in Fort Frances for older adults living on a fixed income is a concern, as well.
A less-urgent issue is accessibility.
“Some of the buildings and the stores and the places are not accessible for carts and walkers and things like that,” said Simpson, adding the problem could be with a building’s entrance or with the space between aisles in a store.
He noted all public buildings in Ontario will have to meet rigid guidelines by 2025 and that will help, but that’s still eight years away.
Survey respondents also would like to see more public bathrooms here.
Simpson pointed out anyone can use the bathrooms at the Northwestern Health Unit or the Fort Frances Museum.
“But how many older adults would know that?” he wondered. “I, myself, didn’t know that until it was discussed at a meeting.”
He added increased access to public bathrooms might encourage more older adults to go downtown, but the fact is not many people are aware of these bathrooms.
Speaking more generally, Simpson said the survey made it clear to him that communication with older adults needs to improve.
For example, the 2015 Directory of Senior Services for Fort Frances and area, which was developed by the Sister Kennedy Centre’s board of directors and released that fall, includes extensive information on services ranging from health and wellness to transportation, financial assistance, active living, and more.
But Simpson, who gets out and about, admitted he wasn’t aware of it.
“We have to find better ways of delivering information to seniors; making sure they get it,” he stressed.
The survey also found isolation is a major issue here.
“Forty-five percent of older adults said they were lonely, so that’s quite a large number,” Simpson said.
On the bright side, when asked if they thought Fort Frances was a good place to age, 74 percent of respondents aged 55+ replied “yes” while 65 percent of respondents aged 18-54 agreed.
The “Age Friendly Community” committee was pleased with the survey response of 361 people, which Simpson said is a very good sampling for a community of this said.
By comparison, Barrie, Ont.–a city of 128,000–got 459 respondents for a similar survey.
A total of 64 percent of respondents here were aged 55+ while 36 percent were adults aged 18-54, with the majority of those being around 45-54 years of age.
Surveys were conducted online and in person, with Simpson and volunteer Robert Schulz taking care to make the survey available at Sister Kennedy Centre, the manors, and other locations around town.
Next steps
Now that the survey is complete and its results compiled, Simpson wants to meet with different groups around town to get their input.
These groups will include the Sister Kennedy Centre, the business community, town managers, and health-care professionals, among others.
“We want to say, ‘These are the results of our survey. Do you see, from your work in our community, anything that should be added,'” explained Simpson.
“‘Do you see what we’re missing? Do you have any suggestions?’
“‘How might we go about finding solutions to these problems that we’ve discovered through our survey and through our focus groups?'” he added.
This advice, along with the survey results, will help the “Age Friendly Community” committee devise an action plan by March 31–the end date for the project.
The goal then is to implement the action plan.
“Creating an action plan for the sake of creating an action plan is a fruitless exercise, so we need to make sure our ‘Age Friendly’ committee stays on and stays viable and stays vibrant,” Simpson stressed.
“We have to go through the implementation stage,” he added.
Simpson noted it’s going to take funding to carry on the work of the committee after March 31, as well as funds to implement some of the solutions in the action plan.
As such, he’s looking into what grants are available.
“It would not be worth our time or energy if we didn’t plan on going the full mile and making Fort Frances an age-friendly community,” Simpson said.
“It’s not just a paper exercise.”
Any questions or comments? Feel free to contact Simpson at age-friendly@fortfrances.ca
