CHNE hosted a panel discussion about issues that seniors face in the rural community of Chéticamp, both during the pandemic and looking ahead at the coming months. About 30% of the population in the North Inverness region is over 65 years of age. 

Marie Aucoin, chair of the North Inverness Health Board, spoke about a health plan compiled by the Board from a 2019 survey on the health needs of the community. She said the community identified the following needs: access to specialized health care services in rural, isolated communities as number one issue; economic conditions as number two; education and physical activity as priority number three. “The community understands,” Aucoin said, “that there are preventative measures that they themselves can take to address their own health situation to keep them well for as long as possible, but we have to help them do that.” 

Aucoin continued, “As far as economic conditions, food and poverty … The community health boards now are lobbying the government provincially and federally for a universal basic income. … A lot of our focus is going to be going on that.”

The health board is also developing community health team programs such as mental health workshops to help people deal with stress and anxiety; also budgeting, cooking healthy meals and more. “Interestingly, what they have found is,” Aucoin said, “some of those programs can be offered online.”

On the issue for access to specialized health services, the health board is advocating for more services to imitate the mammogram mobile testing program. “We’re actually lobbying for a dialysis [bus] service to be provided in our communities,” she said, “and there is another group, hopefully, that is also working on this as well.” The Sacred Heart Community Health Centre in Chéticamp has four family doctors, but people have to travel long distances to reach appointments with specialists in the city. Economic access to transport is also involved in this issue. 

Chester Muise, who manages the Chéticamp Kinsmen Club and the Legion, agreed with Aucoin that issues affecting vulnerable seniors and families have existed in the community for a long time. The pandemic has only made them worse. 

Most recently, Muise has been working to reinstate the “Meals on Wheels” program. The meals were usually prepared at the Foyer Père Fiset, Chéticamp’s only senior home, and delivered to seniors in the area at a low cost. When the pandemic hit, the Foyer was closed to the public and the program interrupted. 

Muise said that COVID-19 has made access to food and nutritious meals even more difficult. “A lot of our seniors are apprehensive, scared, worried about leaving their homes. They’re worried about going to the Coop to shop,” he said. “We found with Meals on Wheels, the more we delivered, the more the demand increases because neighbours see a meal being delivered and say, well, that will stop me from going to the Coop and exposing myself to risk.”

He continued, “The second issue that COVID-19 has somewhat exposed is seniors’ lack of understanding of technology.” He recalled seeing an elderly woman at the bank, who had forgotten she needed an appointment to see a clerk. “With her lack of understanding, the lack of leveraging of technology, she needed physical contact with the Credit Union to do whatever financial transaction she wanted to do. … The fear of COVID-19 has added a level of stress to our community at all levels, but especially at the senior level.” 

Mona Poirier, administrator at Foyer Père Fiset, said that the home is still closed to the public, and the first challenges upon re-opening will be for visitors to adapt to the new safety rules. She said that unlike other years, the Foyer has not had trouble hiring staff during the pandemic. 

In terms of challenges for coming months, Poirier said they remain the same as they’ve been for a long time. “I’m hoping that government will see that there is a great need in long-term care for infrastructure investment to create private rooms and private bathrooms for residents in long-term care to minimize the spread of virus and infection control measures.”