"The No Place to Call Home: The Challenges of Reintegrating Senior Parolees into the Community and Long Term Care Symposium was used to gather organizations, such as Correctional Service Canada, Peterborough Reintegration Services, Citizens Advisory Committee, Elder Abuse Ontario as well as Trent University programs including School of Nursing, Social Work, Sociology and Forensics, together to discuss the silent issue of community reintegration of aging offenders.
The No Place to Call Home symposium, and ultimately this report, started from the goal The No Place to Call Home symposium, and ultimately this report, started from the goal of the local CAC, which is to work with the community to increase education on the rising number of aging parolees and to understand our responsibility as a community. These individuals have served their sentences for the crimes they committed and by law can return to our communities to reside. This overarching goal of education stemmed into the goals of the No Place to Call Home symposium to find solutions on how to address the issue of the community reintegration of aging offenders.
Source: Trent Centre for Aging & Society
"At the Canadian Institutes of Health Research Institute of Neurosciences, Mental Health and Addiction, an important part of our mandate is to focus on research into substance use. While typically this has centered around younger populations, we now know that substance use is far more common among older adults than previously thought. We also know that the issue can be addressed and we can’t afford to wait. As Canada’s population continues to age, the time for action is now. We need to put in place, as soon as possible, systems and strategies to promote healthy aging. To do so, we must improve our understanding of older adults’ unique needs with respect to substance use. We have to reduce the stigma that surrounds substance use so that older adults engage in the conversation and seek support. And, finally, we have to follow through and ensure older adults, their families and caregivers know how to access the services and supports they need."
Source: Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction
Canada’s criminal justice system is among the best in the world, but it is not keeping pace with the ageing population, particularly as it relates to criminal defendants with dementia. This must change. Entering the criminal justice system can have many collateral civil consequences for British Columbians with dementia. This report examines one of the most fundamental difficulties: housing vulnerability. For justice-involved dementia patients, it can be challenging to access appropriate housing, whether in assisted living, residential care or the larger community. As such, we make 30 recommendations which, if implemented, have a reasonable chance of improving the housing security of criminal defendants with dementia who enter the criminal justice system.
Source: Dementia Justice
''Decisions about health care treatment are deeply important and personal. Medication can have a significant impact on what activities we are able to enjoy, how much pain we experience, and how long we live.
Our right to make our own health care decisions is a fundamental right protected by BC laws, the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and international conventions and treaties. Unfortunately, sometimes health care professionals and family do not respect the rights of people living with dementia. Sometimes others assume that people living with dementia are not able to understand information or make their own decisions.
In 2016 the Canadian Centre for Elder Law and the Alzheimer Society of B.C. worked together to study health care decision-making for people living with dementia in BC.
''Decisions about health care treatment are deeply important and personal. Medication can have a significant impact on what activities we are able to enjoy, how much pain we experience, and how long we live.
Our right to make our own health care decisions is a fundamental right protected by BC laws, the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and international conventions and treaties. Unfortunately, sometimes health care professionals and family do not respect the rights of people living with dementia. Sometimes others assume that people living with dementia are not able to understand information or make their own decisions.
In 2016 the Canadian Centre for Elder Law and the Alzheimer Society of B.C. worked together to study health care decision-making for people living with dementia in BC.