Use our online tools to speak up for older adult care and get the word out about improving long-term and home care.
The COVID-19 pandemic has shown what many Canadians have known for a long time: that we can and must confront the crisis in older adult care.
In August, Federal Retirees launched its long-term and home care campaign with the goal of getting governments to truly commit to improving older adult care. Since then, more than 3,500 of you have sent letters to your federal and local representatives to let them know that long-term care and home care must be addressed by governments. Because of you, our campaign is off to a great start!
Sending letters to government officials to urge them to implement national standards for long-term and home care was just the first step.
The next step is getting the word out to even more people, so that our message is heard from coast to coast to coast! We have a few tools to help you speak out about older adult care reform and the need for national standards for long-term and home care.
Speaking points kit
Members of Parliament (MPs) and provincial and territorial representatives should represent the interests of constituents in their riding — and that means listening to what you have to say.
As one of their constituents, you should let them know how you feel about older adult care and the need for changes to the way long-term care and home care are managed, funded and regulated in Canada.
After all, elected officials can help make policy — and change for the better — happen.
To help you talk to your elected officials, we’ve prepared some background information and speaking points on older adult care and the need for national standards for long-term and home care. Read over the information in our kit to familiarize yourself with the health and older adult care landscape in Canada and use the speaking points to guide your conversation with your representative.
Don’t worry if you’re new to engaging with elected representatives! Our kit outlines the steps to take to book and prepare for a meeting with your representative — all while respecting physical distancing.
If you’re more comfortable connecting with your representative in a different setting, our document includes some questions you can ask during an event, like a virtual town hall or webinar.
Access our national long-term and home care campaign speaking points kit.
Letter to the editor
Together, we’re working on real change for long-term care and homecare in Canada, so our campaign needs to reach more than just government officials.
Our campaign — and the movement to make governments act to fix long-term care — needs to reach all Canadians so that older adult care remains a priority moving forward. One great way to do this is by getting our message out to the media and into our communities.
Chances are you have a good understanding of local media outlets in your city or town — the papers and websites that are most popular or most likely to publish letters to the editor. These letters are a great way to highlight our concerns with the public and generate discussions about important issues.
You can customize the letter below with additions of your own (keeping it respectful, factual and concise). You can also copy the text, paste it into a document on your computer, print it and send it to your local newspaper editors.