{"id":295805,"date":"2025-11-20T16:38:08","date_gmt":"2025-11-20T16:38:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/295805\/"},"modified":"2025-11-20T16:38:08","modified_gmt":"2025-11-20T16:38:08","slug":"seniors-advocate-releases-findings-of-second-seniors-wellness-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/295805\/","title":{"rendered":"Seniors\u2019 Advocate Releases Findings of Second Seniors\u2019 Wellness Report"},"content":{"rendered":"

The province\u2019s Seniors\u2019 Advocate has released her Seniors\u2019 Report for 2025<\/a>, offering a sobering look at some of the harsh realities older people are facing.<\/p>\n

Susan Walsh says the data \u201coverwhelmingly\u201d finds that the wellbeing of seniors in the province lags behind the Canadian average in many respects.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

(VOCM News)<\/p>\n

The report states that half of seniors have an income below $29,710, which is the lowest median income in Canada.<\/p>\n

As well, 44 per cent receive the Guaranteed Income Supplement, which they say is a measure of poverty.<\/p>\n

Some of the Advocate\u2019s findings include:<\/p>\n

Half of all seniors have an income below $29,710, which is the lowest median income in Canada and 44 per cent receive the Guaranteed Income Supplement, a measure of poverty, reaching 52 per cent to 56 per cent in Western, Eastern Rural, and Central respectively.
\nSeniors\u2019 food insecurity rose by 5 per cent in the last year.
21 per cent of emergency shelter users are seniors (55+) and 9 per cent of people reported experiencing homelessness for the first time after the age of 55.
\n88 per cent of seniors have one chronic health condition and 45.5 per cent have three of more, yet access to a primary health care provider has continued to decrease and NL seniors\u2019 access is the lowest of all Canadian provinces.
\nThe waitlist for hip and knee surgery increased by 199 per cent over the last 5 years, and the surgery rates are not nearly keeping pace with the demand.
\nOver the last 4 years there has been a 17 per cent increase in the number of seniors medically discharged from hospital but remain there awaiting appropriate living or care arrangements (ALC), with the average length of stay being 30 days.
\nOver the last 5 years, there has been a 64 per cent increase in criminal violations against seniors, and the number of referrals for victim services has more than doubled.<\/p>\n

Homelessness among seniors of particular concern says Advocate <\/p>\n

Walsh also points to homelessness as an area of concern. The report states that 21 per cent of emergency shelter users are aged 55 and older, and that nine per cent of people reported experiencing homelessness for the first time after the age of 55.<\/p>\n

Rates of crime against seniors are also on the rise. There has been a 64 per cent increase in criminal violations against seniors over the last five years, and the number of referrals to victim services has more than doubled.<\/p>\n

As for healthcare, 88 per cent of seniors have a chronic health condition, while over 45 per cent have three or more, all while access to primary care for seniors is the lowest among all Canadian provinces.<\/p>\n

Majority of seniors satisfied with their wellbeing <\/p>\n

Not all of the findings in the report are negative, however. Eighty-eight per cent of seniors report satisfaction with their lives, 84 per cent feel connected to their communities, 89 per cent have an active drivers\u2019 license, and only 5 per cent live in assisted living, long term care or personal care homes.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Seniors\u2019 Advocate Susan Walsh delivers here second Seniors\u2019 Wellness Report (VOCM News)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The province\u2019s Seniors\u2019 Advocate has released her Seniors\u2019 Report for 2025, offering a sobering look at some of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":295806,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[49,48,84,392],"class_list":{"0":"post-295805","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-healthcare","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-health","11":"tag-healthcare"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/295805","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=295805"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/295805\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/295806"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=295805"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=295805"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=295805"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}