Researcher Suzanne Dupuis-Blanchard had a lightbulb moment when she began investigating why older adults often struggle to remain in their homes. Surprisingly, the reasons had little to do with medical issues. The director of the Centre for Aging Research at the University of Moncton and her team consistently heard from seniors that smaller, mainly social challenges forced them to relocate: the need for healthy meals, social connections, transportation, or even the simple struggle to open a jar.
A new approach to aging in place
“It really made us think that we were looking at this all wrong,” Dupuis-Blanchard said. “Their reasons for relocating were never for anything medical. It was always sort of what we call the grey zone, often things we take for granted, but after a certain age they become vital to deciding whether you are going to stay at home or not.”
It occurred to her that many communities already had services in place that could help people stay in their homes – and often those services were associated with nursing homes. “What if nursing homes could do something about aging in place?” she began asking.
Nursing Home Without Walls expands
The result of her research is the Nursing Home Without Walls program, developed in New Brunswick and now expanding across Canada. Ottawa is poised to become one of the first communities in Ontario to pilot the program, based at Perley Health. AdvantAge Ontario, the provincial association representing hundreds of not-for-profit, charitable, and municipal long-term care homes, is leading the Ontario pilot projects at Perley and two other long-term care homes elsewhere in the province.
Like many long-term care homes, the waiting list to get a bed at Perley Health is long. At times there have been up to 1,200 people waiting for one of the home’s 450 beds. Even so, Perley is aiming to double the number of people it serves by 2035 by offering services to those living in the community. The Nursing Home Without Walls program is key to achieving that goal.
Supporting seniors at home
The program will expand on what Perley is already doing to become a hub for older adults living in the community, said Tanya Mac Donald, director of senior living and community programs at Perley Health. “The sole focus is to support people to age at home or in place. This is a more upstream program focused on health promotion and wellness,” she said. The program will also help seniors navigate supports that already exist in the community, such as meals on wheels, health and fitness programs, or transportation.
Nursing Home Without Walls has been expanding in New Brunswick since federal funding helped set up a pilot project there in 2019. There are now 36 programs in the province, and the program is expanding to other parts of the country.
