April 28, 2022
Plan for Manitoba's Seniors to be Developed Through Meaningful Engagement with Manitobans, Stakeholders
– – –Advisory Committee, Network of Community Organizations and Older Manitobans to Play a Key Role in Seniors Strategy: Johnston
The Manitoba government is reaching out across the province to listen, learn and work collaboratively with seniors towards the development of a plan that will support older Manitobans to live as independently as they wish in their own homes for as long as it is safe to do so, Seniors and Long-Term Care Minister Scott Johnston announced today.
“Older Manitobans have contributed greatly to our province and have built our society,” said Johnston. “We owe it to them to listen carefully to their advice and wisdom, to recognize their efforts and to afford them a good quality of life with the independence they seek."
To guide this work, Johnston appointed an advisory committee of skilled experts in the field of aging. The committee has already begun to meet and will provide important advice and insights to the work over the months ahead.
“As we all age together, we want to age in the right place – in our community,” said Connie Newman, chair, minister’s advisory group. “In the coming months, we will continue to listen and hear what older Manitobans are saying. As the executive director of the Manitoba Association of Senior Centres and Age Friendly Manitoba and a member of the Manitoba Seniors Coalition, I listened to many older adults voice their concerns and I look forward to continuing that consultation and bringing those voices forward to support older Manitobans across the province.”
The EngageMB community will also play an important role, providing feedback at every step of development through ongoing consultation and research. Over 10,000 Manitobans over the age of 65 have already signed up to EngageMB and that community is expected to grow over the months ahead, noted the minister.
Recognizing that not all seniors have access to online consultations or feel comfortable navigating the EngageMB platform, government will also enlist the support of 50 community-based organizations with pre-established relationships to older Manitobans across the province. Building on the success of the Safe at Home program and the ProtectMB Community Outreach and Incentive Grants initiative, selected organizations will receive a $1,000 stipend to support their role in the community engagement network and will host discussions and consultations with their community members on an ongoing basis.
“No group has been harder hit in COVID than older adults,” said Sherry Mooney, board president, Charleswood 55 Plus Active Living Centre. “Loneliness, isolation, physical and emotional separation has characterized the last two years for too many older adults. We look forward to contributing in the consultation process to guide the new seniors strategy on issues such as models of enriched housing with easy access to social, physical and emotional connections.”
The consultation process will be fully accessible and focused on connecting with hard-to-reach communities and individuals, while also offering a variety of ways for Manitobans to weigh in. It will seek perspectives from a broad cross-section of seniors living in communities across Manitoba, close friends and family members of older Manitobans, those who work with seniors and all interested Manitobans.
“Our government is committed to working together with Manitobans to solve challenges we are facing,” said Johnston. “I am excited to see how Manitobans help shape our seniors strategy in the coming months. The health and vitality of our communities depends on it.”
Manitobans are invited to complete the first survey in the consultation and community organizations can express their interest in supporting the strategy and participating in the community engagement network at https://engagemb.ca/building-a-plan-for-older-manitobans.
Johnston noted the province is committed to building a stronger foundation for improved seniors care, commends the hard work and dedication of seniors and recognizes their pivotal role in our province’s strength and prosperity.
Created as a high priority for Premier Heather Stefanson and the provincial government, the Department of Seniors and Long-Term Care was formed in January 2022 with a focused mandate to implement all of the recommendations in the Stevenson Review, represent Manitoba’s seniors and advocate for seniors' issues.
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BACKGROUND INFORMATION ATTACHED
Backgrounder
BG-Seniors_Strategy_Consultations-SLC.pdf - https://www.gov.mb.ca/asset_library/en/newslinks/2022/04/BG-Seniors_Strategy_Consultations-SLC.pdf