~~ The society didn’t go that route... For a
good reason. They had already been. to
-BCHMC and that organization is a part of
this ministry. So why bother? BCHMC
builds -housing, but they’ve already aaid
they're not into health. |

And so the idea of supportive housing,
as good an idea as most seem to agree it is, ©

sits in limbo, waiting while the ministries

of social services and health work on some-.

thing called a supportive housing docu-
ment, a document that will apparently

“provide province-wide guidelines for the »

supportive housing concept, but also a
document that has been in the works for a
year and a half without a glimmer of light

* mula. Earlier treat-

‘formal surrounding a

The result is minimal but still appro- .
- priate care at an-earlier stage ofadisease. |.
In most cases, this means using less costly ere
personnel and simpler techniques. Orin
‘more serious instances, it means a delay in —

_the advance of the disease, which intum. .
means ‘a shorter period of more intensive . a

care,

. In terms of people, such forthright - |

reasoning -may-:
seem a little harsh. .
But. people aren't .

forgotten in! this 7
cost-saving, : «for- a

ment in a lésg’ ~

it means. a loss ‘of
. “personal independence sO
_ -hecessary to the mental well-

‘and only this minuscule hope: "We'll be i in
touch,” " . :

being of the individual. To ©

. means a greater

a

5. | that might help is a better
understanding of the concept within the —

community. Exactly what is. supportive
housing? What will it: do? Why do we need

it? And who needs it? With the answers to

these questions at hand, perhaps the need

can be better explained to the government’
responsible for the two ministries involved. _

Supportive housing is a concept that

provides at least a part of the answer for a _

very basic health care premise. Health care

costs.a lot of money, and there is an urgent

need to finda way to hold the line on those
costs if we're going to maintain a. tradi-
tional level of service.

The Royal Commission on Health Care
was fully aware of this truth even before it
began. Finding ways to cover or hold the

line on rising health care costs, in fact, was ~

the reason the government appointed this.
commission in the first place.

In a nutshell, the basic conclusion of
that comrhission was that prevention costs
far less than treatment. And prevention,
therefore, is where our health care dollars

“ean best’ be: ‘Spent.
"The concept is simple. The first line of
defence is education. If a $1 million educa-

tional blitz prevents 1,000 people from

falling ill and saves $2 million in health

care costs... Then obviously education is a
cost-effective health care process. —

People will still get sick, of course. And

the second line of defence in. prevention is

a little more abstract. Prevention in this

_ case means keeping people out of, or‘at

least delaying, long-term or acute-care

situations wherever possible.

- state of well being ‘
for the patient: ‘In

short, it means day

_ some it could even an be end ©
to a useful, productive life.

care or aterm of —
"residential" care, ¢ -.
rather than: direct: —
hospitalization.
And ‘this is where supportive housing
fits into the overall.formula for cheaper
and more sensitive treatment of people. At

some stage in life, maintaining an indepen- _
. dent lifestyle can become difficult. Age isn’t.

necessarily a: factor. Physical limitations,

‘mental disabilities, or disease can be the oe

cause. .
‘In specific instances, ‘this means the

. individual becomes a resident of Terrace-.

view Lodge or Mills Memorial Hospital. A

_ person, for example, whois independent in |
many ways but has some difficulty with —

shopping or cooking. And it may be their
physical. environment, not their physical

. condition that is at fault. Another example

might be a person who is largely indepen- |
dent, but with a specific health difficulty

_ that requires the periodic ‘Proximity, of a

nurse.
For these people, moving into Terrace-
view, as nice as it is, can be a degrading

and demoralizing experience. It means ay ae

loss of. personal independence that is:so°

necessary to the mental well-being of the. ©

. individual. To some it could even an end to. .

a useful, productive life. Andit costs nearly...

$400 a day at Mills Memorial; $100 : a day” ae

_atTerraceview. eS
Clearly then, this solution i is not a good oe

solution... For anyone. Not for the patient..  ...-

Not for the system. Not for the taxpayer. It >

represents a net loss to everyone... But it’s

_ the only thing we've got.

Terrace Review — May 18, 1992