Twenty-three came to this ASK Salt Spring gathering for the complicated and emotional discussion about the supports needed to allow us to age safely and comfortably in our homes. Leading this conversation were Valerie Louvet, owner of Homecare Salt Spring and Cecile Petra, Occupational Therapist and Coordinator of Hospice Home Visits. (For more about our Hospice Society, you may want to re-read the ASK Salt Spring report of their visit with us: https://asksaltspring.com/2026/06/26/our-hospice-team-leading-our-community-through-grief-with-love/.
After an Acknowledgement by Constance Gibbs, one of our Hospice volunteers who selected this topic and invited our guests, we each had an opportunity to introduce ourselves. The group was split into folks who wanted to learn more to better support their parent and those who wanted to begin planning how they could age comfortably and safely in their home. We soon learned that, unless one is cared for by a loving friend or relative, home care decisions are often forced to strike that balance between needs and financial realities. And, even caregivers bring their cost in terms of burnout, often also needing support services by our homecare organizations.
Joining us was a long time caregiver who wanted help producing and distributing a brochure detailing information about local senior services that has been recently compiled by the Salt Spring Health Advancement Network – SSHAN: (https://sshealthadvancemen.wixsite.com/sshan). It was suggested that her group, the South Salt Spring Gathering Space (formerly the Fulford Seniors) apply for a Local Community Commission Grant in Aid (https://www.crd.ca/your-community/community-funding/grants-aid) by the Friday, August 21 deadline. It was also suggested that her group reach out to the Lady Minto Hospital Foundation for possible funding.
As this senior services information list is already available online, it was suggested it be included in this report: (https://www.saltspringhospice.org/seniorservices).
Joining us was Bob MacKie, one of the moving forces of an exciting Salt Spring Co-Housing project that is gaining the attention of over 100 locals who are pondering the option of living in a community of small privately owned homes on a large shared property with a cooperative home. Interested in learning more? Contact ssicohousing@gmail.com. You may also want to re-read the recent ASK Salt Spring report about Co-Housing: https://asksaltspring.com/2025/11/21/interested-in-learning-more-about-co-housing-on-salt-spring/.
Clear that this ASK Salt Spring gathering had participants with a wealth of experience, they also had so many questions! Before opening the conversation to these questions, we learned that Cecile was “excited and delighted” by her garden but also her satisfying work as both an Occupational Therapist and Hospice volunteer, both roles helping her to empower folks to live their best life. Valerie, a mother of two children as well as a daughter of a mom on Salt Spring, loves her work managing one of Salt Spring’s private home care services, finding joy when families thank her for bringing health back to a loved one still living at home. Trained as a Certified Nurse Associate in the UK, she moved to Salt Spring to help care for her elderly mother and was shocked by the gaps in our home care services. Her decision to offer better access to care for seniors on Salt Spring has been challenging, but it has also been incredibly rewarding.
Before diving deeper into these gaps as well as important established services, we spent a moment noting that our guests, representing nonprofit and business home care options, offer only a portion of the picture. Island Health also offers publicly-subsidized home care. Island Health representatives will be our guests early this fall.
Why would one consider volunteer or fee-based options for healthcare when Island Health subsidizes home care services? It was agreed that, currently, Island Health home care services are simply not filling the growing need. We learned that, some years ago, there were 35 publicly funded home care workers on Salt Spring; today there are six Island Health home care workers: https://bccare.ca/wp-content/uploads/Direct-Care-Hours.pdf.
We soon learned an important distinction: Home care workers (called Home Care Aides) provide hands on personal care (rather than medical) healthcare services, focused on offering care services such as help with bathing, cooking, cleaning, and even the companionship that one living at home might need. They are regulated through a BC Gov’t registry (https://www.cachwr.bc.ca/ that handles standards and complaints and must be registered if working in the public system.
Some of us were shocked that while BC does handle standards and complaints, it does not certify these home care workers nor does it certify organizations offering home care services. If not working in a public system, anyone 18 and older could declare oneself to be a home care aid, going into homes to care for basic needs of those unable to care for themselves.
It is Valerie’s fervent wish that BC would train, inspect, and certify all health care workers and organizations going into homes providing these services. In Valerie’s opinion, it would be better for clients, home care aides, and private companies providing these services if both the companies and home care aids were regulated, inspected and held to a common standard of care. This would mean that all companies would have to hire registered care aides who have all been educated to the same level of care. Home care companies would be required to obtain a license to operate to ensure safety and excellence in care. In the mean time, Homecare operates using the same policies and protocols that regulate public health services by ensuring that care workers are all registered and in good standing.
Studies have concluded that aging at home is a far less expensive option for taxpayers than publicly-funded assisted living and long term care facilities. When Dan Levitt, the BC Senior Advocate joined ASK Salt Spring (https://asksaltspring.com/2025/07/25/we-can-do-better-for-our-seniors/), we learned that taxpayers pay over $100,000 a year for every individual in publicly-funded care facilities.
While this cost is one compelling argument to age in place, it too often does not happen naturally or easily. Both Cecile and Valerie noted that many at home seniors they visit are struggling to make immediate changes with too many already lacking sufficient independence to.make these changes. Both recommend that planning is the best way to prepare to age at home. We were reminded that, no matter how we deny it, we will all be different with different needs in ten years, guaranteed!
In the opinion of both Cecile and Valerie, getting your Power of Attorney in place and scheduling a home assessment with Valerie, Cecile, or another home care organization are the two best first steps. With this home assessment, you may find that modifications are minor or they may involve more costly modifications like an elevator. Guaranteed, though, if you wait until you need these modifications, they will be far more difficult. Want more than just a home assessment? Our Hospice will soon also offer advance planning workshops. For more information, contact: office@saltspringhospice.org or 250)537-2770.
The undeniable message: However you do it, if you hope to age at home, stop denying that you will ever get old and begin planning! Early planning and action before it is needed are your only routes to success.
When a participant suggested the importance of daily volunteer calls to aging seniors living alone, we began to explore the resources already in place. We learned that Island Community Services’ Ministry of Health funded and United Way managed Better at Home programis designed to support seniors over 55 living at home (https://saltspringcommunityservices.ca/seniors-services/better-at-home/). For more information, contact Island Community Services Seniors Wellness at (250) 537-9971 ext. 224. Participants wondered if this established program could be the source of even more senior home outreach than is currently available. They asked, “Is more funding an option?”A participant, also member of a Community Services’ interagency working group exploring senior services, promised to ask about this possible option.
While this Community Services’ working group is a good start as is the resource list link offered earlier in this report, a number of participants expressed frustration that there appears be little coordination among the available services for at home seniors. A significant gap identified in this conversation is the need for one home care group that has an extensive knowledge of resources available and the ability to share these resources throughout our community.
As many of you know, a $50 million budget line for a Salt Spring long term care facility was recently removed from the CRD Hospital Foundation budget at the request of Islands Health. We were not the only community impacted: Other communities had similar projects pulled from the budget, some with far more prepared plans, some even with shovel-ready designs. Despite fervent pleas to put this funding back into the budget, common wisdom seems to have concluded this is a hopeless ask. But, what about asking Island Health for significantly more home care funding? Enough publicly-subsidized home care workers to help us age at home safely, is a win-win for seniors as well as taxpayers. Gary Holman, one of our participants at this gathering and our Electoral Director, promised to take the request for more Islands Health home care worker funding to the CRD Hospital Board. Stay tuned. . . .
But, even with a budget big enough to provide an adequate number of home care associates, it is likely that Salt Springers will not be able to benefit fully. Why? Housing! Even with an ample budget to pay them, these home care workers will need a place to live, clearly a challenge on Salt Spring. While there are many ways to approach this hurdle, one possible solution is Housing NOW (https://www.sgicommunityresources.ca/housingnow-ssi/). In its third, and possibly final, year of funding from a variety of sources including our Local Community Commission, Housing NOW could be the perfect solution for accommodating home care workers. Did you know that Salt Spring has over 1,600 houses occupied by only one individual? We also know that many seniors have large, underutilized homes. Housing NOW supports home sharing options through matchmaking for the best home sharing partners, contracts, on-going support, and relocation to another home when the match is not working.
Successful in other communities, Salt Spring’s Housing NOW has not yet had a Home share success story. While the reasons are complex, from a simplistic perspective, there seems to be an unmet opportunity where home carers in need of housing could move into the home of a senior needing home care support. Now, this could be tricky as a single worker would need to be well-protected so that they did not find themselves with long shifts or even in the role of round-the-clock caregivers, but, given the right protections/agreements, support, and flexibility to meet the needs of all home sharers, this could actually be one solution. Were housing available, many at this ASK Salt Spring gathering seemed to be optimistic that our current shortage of home care workers could be significantly decreased.
While there was a commitment to reach out to Housing NOW to further explore this, it was recognized that the solution rests with us – seniors with large enough homes to share AND a looming need for some housekeeping, yard work, or care in these homes. Step up seniors and explore sharing your home by checking out the website, registering, or contacting Adam, our Salt Spring Coordinator at: housingnowssi@sgicommunityresources.ca.
Our time over for this gathering, we agreed that it was a rich conversation with information and answers but also many unanswered questions to be explored at another ASK Salt Spring gathering. For now, though, we thanked Cecile and Valerie for their honesty, breadth of knowledge, commitment to supporting those of us who want to age in our homes, and simple joy at helping so many stay safe and healthy in their homes. (Thank-you Cecile and Valerie!)
Just in case you are interested. . . .This report has been written by Gayle Baker, founder of ASK Salt Spring, currently also a Salt Spring Local Community Commissioner. It has also been reviewed by Cecile and Valerie.