Seniors’ transportation concern grows across Alberta

Miriam Ostermann
Times Associate Editor

 

As Alberta’s senior population is projected to grow substantially over the next 25 years, transportation issues facing Strathmore’s aging population no longer remain local – a need accelerating rapidly across the province.
According to Statistics Canada, the proportion making up the population aged 65 and older in Alberta is expected to jump to over 17 per cent over the next couple decades from 11.2 per cent in 2013.
Going hand-in-hand with an aging population are a myriad of problems already in need of attention, especially transportation, where seniors are transitioning from behind the steering wheel to the passenger seat due to medical reasons, choice, or lack of a vehicle.
In Strathmore, a steady relocation of businesses to the east side of town and the absence of a proper local transportation system available to accommodate their financial and physical need has left Strathmore’s seniors stranded at hospitals and angered over losing their independence.
Strathmore’s seniors currently make up 15 per cent of its 13,327-large population. While taxi service proved too expensive for some seniors, and the Strathmore Handi-Bus Association is struggling to justify additional costs with extended hours and drivers, the topic surged to the top of the recently established Senior Advisory Committee’s priority list.
“This is an area where seniors have very different needs in transportation, and the people with the most concerns are the ones with certain types of walkers and or in wheelchairs,” said Ethel Bertram with the Senior Advisory Committee on Oct. 17 at the town’s regular council meeting.
“One very critical need for these people is when they’re being discharged from the hospital after six p.m. They have no means of transportation home. This has already led to considerable expense and horror stories.”
The problems arose when seniors were taken by ambulance to the Strathmore hospital, and in some cases facilities in Calgary. With no family nearby and being discharged in the late hours of the night, seniors were left to fend for themselves for quite some time. While the Handi-Bus has called in their drivers to make emergency trips to Calgary and the hospitals, changes over the summer are making it even more difficult for those in a bind.
“Trying to operate this thing into 10,11, 12 o’clock at night does not make financial sense,” said Councillor Rocky Blokland, who represents the town on the Handi-Bus committee.
“We get encumbered with all sorts of extra costs, extra dispatchers, extra drivers, extra vehicles. As far as people getting discharged at the hospital, if they’re stuck we will get them out of there, but we’re trying to look for alternative solutions to that. I agree it’s a problem.”
Bertram suggested a bus service, running two days a week, with scheduled stops throughout town, costing seniors approximately $5, with the possibility of being used by other senior groups or clubs for day trips.
Having studied the problem across the province, the Medically At-Risk Driver Centre, in collaboration with the University of Alberta, is addressing the unmet need in rural and urban Alberta by providing targeted information on the implementation of an alternative transportation service system for seniors. The free half-day workshop, which offered a snapshot of the toolkit, was already delivered to Medicine Hat and Lethbridge. The events attracted businesses, non-profits, Handi-Bus Societies, and politicians, and turned out to be two-fold for the organization in receiving much of the hoped-for feedback.
“Much like the rest of Canada, Alberta’s population is aging too and seniors today typically make up 10 to 30 per cent of the community populations and this proportion will steadily increase over the next 30 years,” said Mayank Rehani, research coordinator with the Medically At-Risk Driver Centre.
“One model does not fit all seniors. A lack of access to transportation results in unmet needs including lack of access to medical services and other necessary services, such as grocery shopping and banking. Lack of transportation also leads to poor quality of life overall.”
The organization completed a provincial survey, a Capital Regional Board survey, and a community service survey in Wainwright, all of which revealed senior transportation to be an unmet need. Calgary, Red Deer, Edmonton, Cold Lake, and Grande Prairie will also be privy to the workshop in the near future.
For now, town council asked the Senior Advisory Committee, which also identified senior housing to be another issue, to meet with different groups, conduct surveys, and find out the greatest need from the broadest base of seniors.
The Medically At-Risk Drivers Centre workshop will take place in Calgary on Nov. 19. For more information and to find services dedicated to seniors within the community visit www.mard.ualberta.ca.