House Calls program helps seniors live independently at home

At 89, living at home without support would be impossible for Margaret Greaves. She can barely walk, which makes getting to a doctor's office extremely difficult. However, thanks to a monthly visit from HouseCalls, she is able to keep her independence.

"She could be anybody's grandmother,"says Clinical Director Dr. Mark Nowaczynski, "and everybody's grandmother should have access to the opportunity to live where they want to live and where they're going to be healthiest and happiest."

HouseCalls is a program that provides at-home care for seniors in Toronto who are unable to get to a doctor. There are four doctors and they see up to eight patients a day.

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The HouseCallsprogramwas developed to meet the growing demands of an aging population.Approximately 100,000 older Canadians are housebound and unable to get to a doctor. In the next 20 years that number is expected to climb to 400,000.

Although the demand is there, HouseCalls is unable to see as many patients as its organizerswould like.

"What breaks my heart is that I come across patients who are not within the region," Dr. Samir Sinha says."This program covers 23 postal codes in Toronto. It should cover every postal code."

Financial constraints are preventing HouseCalls from expanding. It operates througha non-profit agency on a shoestring budget.

"We were funded in 2009 to provide care to 130 patients a year. On the same budget we have grown to serve 500 patients per year we are simply under-funded,"says Nowaczynski.

The lack of funding is frustrating, because the organization saysthe program saves millions in hospital costs.

"We have the compelling data this actually saves money," says Sinha.

House Calls' latest data found that among seniors enrolled into the program after a hospitalization, the rate of readmission dropped by 53 per cent.Forthose patients who were readmitted, theoverall length ofhospital stays was cut by nearly 70 per cent.

Back at Margaret Greaves' home, the doctors pack up and leave, but Greaves stays exactly where she wants to be, at home.

Watch The National's video documentary on the HouseCalls program at the top of this page or here.