An alternative to isolation and anxiety

This housing experiment for older adults has changed lives. It could also save Ontario millions

- MOIRA WELSH

Anxiety crept into Donna Meloney’s thoughts.

Sometimes, it ate into her sleep when Meloney, then in her mid-60s, lay awake at night, worrying about a future alone. More often, it arrived in the morning when the day ahead looked like an empty horizon.

With no one to rely on, Meloney, a retired retail manager living in a Burlington apartment, grew fixated on isolation and decline, determined to avoid a nursing home. It scared her.

Afew blocks north, in the concrete and glass building that is Burlington City Hall, an accountantturned-councillor named Paul Sharman was consumed with an idea that mirrored Meloney’s fear: older adults need a better way to live.

The same age, but from different social circles, their goals would intersect in a promising new experiment, improving life for dozens.

Now, Sharman’s plan to improve the lives of people over 65 is seen as a solution to the universal anxiety of Canadians who worry they will grow frail, with a lonely ending in a hospital or long-term-care home.

Since opening in 2019, the Community Wellness Hub has helped older adults in a Burlington community housing apartment building remain independent, in their own homes, by surrounding them with health care and social supports.

Housing program seen as missing piece for isolated seniors

The Halton Community Housing program has an on-site leader called a “community connector” to help residents find their way through Ontario’s complex healthcare system; organize social events; visit apartments to ensure there is food in the fridge; talk about medication and, organize the services of more than a dozen different agencies providing home care in the building. It is supported by the Burlington Ontario Health Team.

Meloney moved into the building as the Hub pilot began. To her, this new program was the missing piece and the nightly grip of anxiety lessened.