Today is your day Boomer! Boomers....within 10 years, one of four British Columbians will be officially "seniors", 65 or older. And of course, we are part of this! But do we need more attention from government, more helping programs, more services....more money? Yes, we do. So the good news is we have a "seniors advocate" in our province, one who lobbies, pushes and promotes what we need. Dan Levitt says we need "to develop and implement a cross-ministry strategy and action plan to strengthen supports and services for seniors." He adds: "The recent flurry of announcements of new and replacement long-term care spaces and the updated poverty plan are encouraging, but seniors also need assurance that government is working to improve availability of seniors subsidized housing, access to health care, affordable transportation and home care, and better income supports.” How bad is it? Levitt says "the average wait time for a long-term care bed went up 54% to 209 days last year compared to 2019; the number of seniors on the waitlist increased 136% to 5,175 over the same period. As well, there was a 59% increase in the waitlist for seniors subsidized housing between 2019-2023, and of those, 17% of applicants have been waiting more than five years." Whew! Boomers, are you worried? I am....helppppp government!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Image
Today is your day Boomer! Baby Boomers, another health benefit is back! It is backward walking and the trend-often associated with the 1980s-is making a return as grey-haired wonders, like you and I, look for new-or-newish ideas to help keep us fit! According to cbc.ca, "walking backwards has shown that there's less impact on the joints by using these different muscles — and it can increase flexibility and even help alleviate back pain." One 62-year-old Boomer says "Every time I walk, I just do a little twirl and walk backwards for a bit, and I'll do it just a few times during my walk." It may look a little unusual and may get a few laughs from passersby....by consider the actual benefits. Clinical exercise specialist André Noël Potvin says "When you start to walk backwards, you actually start to rebalance the forces around the ankle, knee, hip and lower back." This really helps Boomers recovering from knee surgery and older Boomers who are havi...
Read more
Image
Today is your day Boomer! Relaxing in my hot tub this morning, I had reflections of the 1970 CCR song "Lookin' out my Back Door". Yes, that kind of druggy, but catchy song, about the view of your backyard. Mine is spectacular: colourful sunrises, big ponderosa pines, cheer, apple, fir, and weeping willow trees, two mountains, sheep and chickens next door, two frolicking golden retrievers, beautiful green grass and what seems like a thousand birds...including quail, pheasant, chickadees, woodpeckers, and blue jays. And what else? Well....the quiet, the solitude, and the chance for reflection with no sirens, car noise, yelling people, or neighbours invading your privacy. It was...is...just beautiful, and I am so blessed to live in a rural area in BC's Okanagan Valley. Boomers, what's out your back door? John Fogerty's "tangerines and elephants" or something like my cheeries and coyotes? Check it out and appreciate the little things in life. Cheers...
Read more
Image
Today is your day Boomer! Booze is becoming a bummer Boomers! That's right, we are drinking less...way less, according to the researchers. In fact, drinking rates across Canada have just reached a 20-year low. Stats Canada numbers look like this: "On average, Canadians bought the equivalent of eight drinks per week between March 2024 and March 2025, down from 8.7 a year earlier and 9.7 a decade ago. Beer, wine, and spirits sales all fell in both dollar amount and volume. Ciders and coolers were the only category to grow in that time period."(cbc.ca) This trend is especially prevalent in younger people, who maybe are turned off by the high cost of alcohol, their increased use of cannabis, and the social trends of having fun without suffering the next day. I don't see any numbers for Boomers yet....but I bet we remain as a near-the-top consumer as we grew up with booze as a recreational mainstay. By the way, some so-called experts say we are now entering a "po...
Read more