Seniors

A 93-year-old senior is left with nothing but bitcoin receipts after being scammed out of $15,000 in July. She’s hoping that sharing her experience will prevent others from being hurt. (Heather Colpitts/Langley Advance Times)

Cloverdale senior hit by tag-teaming scammers, defrauding her of $15,000

93-year-old grandmother doesn’t want to see this happen to other seniors

 

Duncan Watson learns the basics of pickleball provided by OPC Pickleball Club’s pilot program to help people with Parkinson’s disease. (Maire Watson photo)

Pickleball for Parkinson’s: B.C. club hopes program can help provide exercise for life

Parksville players learning the game in bid to add life-extending activity to their regular routine

 

(Pixaby photo)

B.C.’s seniors advocate urges seniors and caregivers to prepare for rising temperatures

Dual focus during high temperatures is to keep the room cool and to keep the body cool

 

Louis Brier Home and Hospital is a long-term care facility in Vancouver, pictured in 2019. CEO David Keselman said guidelines need to reflect how care has become more complex since he first became a nurse roughly 30 years ago. (Photo: Google Street View).

‘We are still not prepared’: B.C. care home advocates call for action amid recommendations

Experts say it is time to re-evaluate staffing ratio guidelines in the province

Louis Brier Home and Hospital is a long-term care facility in Vancouver, pictured in 2019. CEO David Keselman said guidelines need to reflect how care has become more complex since he first became a nurse roughly 30 years ago. (Photo: Google Street View).
Liberal MP Hedy Fry speaks during a news conference in Ottawa, on June 15, 2017. Fry introduced a private bill in late June, Bill C-295, that would amend Section 215 of the Criminal Code to specifically criminalize owners and managers of long-term care homes for failing to provide the “necessaries of life” to vulnerable adults. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

Ottawa exploring criminal reform as Liberal MP tables bill on long-term care neglect

Bill C-295 looks to criminalize care home owners who fail to provide residents with necessities

Liberal MP Hedy Fry speaks during a news conference in Ottawa, on June 15, 2017. Fry introduced a private bill in late June, Bill C-295, that would amend Section 215 of the Criminal Code to specifically criminalize owners and managers of long-term care homes for failing to provide the “necessaries of life” to vulnerable adults. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
B.C. Seniors Advocate Isobel Mackenzie held a Town Hall meeting at the Campbell River Seniors Centre Wednesday, July 6 to hear issues and concerNs from Campbell River seniors. Photo by Alistair Taylor/Campbell River Mirror

Majority of seniors in B.C. live independently in their own home

B.C. Seniors Advocate provides snapshot of the state of life as a senior in the province

B.C. Seniors Advocate Isobel Mackenzie held a Town Hall meeting at the Campbell River Seniors Centre Wednesday, July 6 to hear issues and concerNs from Campbell River seniors. Photo by Alistair Taylor/Campbell River Mirror
Pictured during 2015, Aaron Craven (right) is with his mother, Patricia Craven (center), and his father, Donald Craven (left), who passed away in 2018. (Photo: Aaron Craven/ B.C. Alzheimer's Society).

Advocates want more consistency in B.C.’s extended care visitation policies post-pandemic

Constantly shifting rules around essential visitors hard on people’s mental health

Pictured during 2015, Aaron Craven (right) is with his mother, Patricia Craven (center), and his father, Donald Craven (left), who passed away in 2018. (Photo: Aaron Craven/ B.C. Alzheimer's Society).
B.C. is investing another $12 million into the BC Farmers’ Market Nutrition Coupon Program, and upping the weekly amount participants receive from $21 to $27. (Photo: BC Association of Farmers’ Markets)

B.C. upping access to farmers’ market coupon program with $12-million injection

Program provides low-income households, seniors, pregnant people with weekly coupons for local goods

B.C. is investing another $12 million into the BC Farmers’ Market Nutrition Coupon Program, and upping the weekly amount participants receive from $21 to $27. (Photo: BC Association of Farmers’ Markets)
The interior of Ucluelet resident Katharine Fleming’s van was demolished on Friday morning when a bear became trapped inside and desperately tried to break its way out. (Andrew Bailey photo)

Bear destroys Vancouver Island van after getting trapped inside

RCMP officer frees black bear, but not before it obliterates the vehicle’s interior

The interior of Ucluelet resident Katharine Fleming’s van was demolished on Friday morning when a bear became trapped inside and desperately tried to break its way out. (Andrew Bailey photo)
Residents are shown at Idola Saint-Jean long-term care home in Laval, Que., Friday, February 25, 2022. The latest census release on aging marks another milestone on the slow march to what experts warn will be a crisis in care for Canada’s elders. CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes

2021 census shows number of seniors over 85 expected to triple in next 25 years

Last year the oldest baby boomers turned 76, and most probably live independently

Residents are shown at Idola Saint-Jean long-term care home in Laval, Que., Friday, February 25, 2022. The latest census release on aging marks another milestone on the slow march to what experts warn will be a crisis in care for Canada’s elders. CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes
While on his daily morning coffee run, Saanich resident Robert Davies, 90, found a large sum of cash and reported it to the police, who were able to reunite the person with their lost money. (Megan Atkins-Baker/News Staff)

B.C. senior discovers $1,600, ‘does the right thing’ by alerting police

Robert Davies finds cash on morning coffee run; police reunite money with owner

While on his daily morning coffee run, Saanich resident Robert Davies, 90, found a large sum of cash and reported it to the police, who were able to reunite the person with their lost money. (Megan Atkins-Baker/News Staff)
Bernie Godin. (Submitted photo)

Bernie Godin keeps Fort St. James seniors involved

Bernie Godin is our community builder of the month for Fort St. James

Bernie Godin. (Submitted photo)
Fort St. James seniors gathered to show support for Ukrainians on Sunday, March 27. (Submitted photo)

Fort St. James seniors unite for Ukraine

75-year-old Bernie Godin said he could no longer sit on the sidelines watching the carnage unfold on the news

Fort St. James seniors gathered to show support for Ukrainians on Sunday, March 27. (Submitted photo)
Ken Dimond and his grandson, Eric Staal, share a moment during Ken’s 105th birthday party. Photo by Terry Farrell

The secret to a long life? “Wake up every morning!,” says B.C. man on 105th birthday

Ken Dimond celebrates 105th birthday in Courtenay with friends and family

Ken Dimond and his grandson, Eric Staal, share a moment during Ken’s 105th birthday party. Photo by Terry Farrell
Providing day-to-day support for a loved one can take a toll on the caregiver. Photo: Unsplash.com

Who cares for the caregiver? A B.C. senior’s struggle to care for her husband

Elder abuse and caregiver self-neglect are more common than you think: Seniors Advocate

Providing day-to-day support for a loved one can take a toll on the caregiver. Photo: Unsplash.com
People are shown inside Maison Herron, a long-term care home in the Montreal suburb of Dorval, Que., on Saturday, April 11, 2020. An advocate for seniors in British Columbia says a rise in volunteer services supporting the elderly has been one of the “brightest lights” throughout the pandemic. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes

Volunteers who supported seniors a lasting legacy of pandemic: B.C. seniors advocate

Isobel Mackenzie says nearly 26,000 seniors benefited from the generosity of over 13,000 volunteers

People are shown inside Maison Herron, a long-term care home in the Montreal suburb of Dorval, Que., on Saturday, April 11, 2020. An advocate for seniors in British Columbia says a rise in volunteer services supporting the elderly has been one of the “brightest lights” throughout the pandemic. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes
Lynn Fanelli and husband Paul.

Lack of heat in husband’s care home has Kelowna woman demanding provincial action

‘I want full disclosure for those who have a vested interest in the healthcare of family members’

Lynn Fanelli and husband Paul.
A health-care worker looks out of a window at Maison Herron, a long-term care home in the Montreal suburb of Dorval, on Saturday, April 11, 2020. The physical and mental health impacts of isolation periods are high for seniors living in care facilities.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes

Advocates say lengthy COVID isolation for seniors in care may do more harm than good

Authorities asked to reconsider guidelines as to when residents must isolate

A health-care worker looks out of a window at Maison Herron, a long-term care home in the Montreal suburb of Dorval, on Saturday, April 11, 2020. The physical and mental health impacts of isolation periods are high for seniors living in care facilities.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes
A woman tries to speak to her mother, through a window at Orchard Villa Care home, in Pickering, Ont. on Saturday, April 25, 2020. The expert spearheading new draft national standards for long-term care says they must strike a balance between residents’ safety and their quality of life. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young

New Canadian care home standards to emphasize fact that they are homes, not wards

Consultations showed pandemic policies hurt mental and social well-being, balance called for

A woman tries to speak to her mother, through a window at Orchard Villa Care home, in Pickering, Ont. on Saturday, April 25, 2020. The expert spearheading new draft national standards for long-term care says they must strike a balance between residents’ safety and their quality of life. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young
Minister Sheila Malcomson speaks at an Oct. 29 announcement of new treatment spaces at Red Fish Healing Centre on Kwikwetlem territory. (Goverment of BC/YouTube)

B.C. gives $720K grant to organization supporting seniors at risk of homelessness

SHINE helps connect seniors to housing and other supports

Minister Sheila Malcomson speaks at an Oct. 29 announcement of new treatment spaces at Red Fish Healing Centre on Kwikwetlem territory. (Goverment of BC/YouTube)