McGuinty Government Improving
Access To Services For Seniors
Seniors Guide Now Available In Chinese, Italian and Portuguese
TORONTO, July 31 /CNW/ -
Chinese, Italian and Portuguese-speaking seniors and their families now
have access to up-to-date information about important topics such as
healthcare, housing and pensions in their language, thanks to new
multilingual versions of A Guide to Programs and Services for Seniors in
Ontario, said Minister Responsible for Seniors Jim Bradley today.
"We want to make it easy
for seniors who speak Chinese, Italian and
Portuguese
to get information on services and topics of interest to them,"
said
Bradley. "That is why we created versions of this handy resource in
Chinese,
Italian and Portuguese."
A significant number of
Ontario's seniors of Chinese, Italian and
Portuguese
heritage who report one of these languages as their first language have no
knowledge of either English or French. These new guides will give these
seniors the information they need about supports and services in their
community.
The guide, also available in
English and French, can be found at
"Having
the guide in a variety of languages helps seniors and their
families
whose first language may not be English or French access important
information directly," said Ontario Coalition of Senior Citizens'
Organizations'
Executive Director Morris Jesion. "I applaud the government for
taking this step to help more seniors get the information they need to
remain independent."
These guides are just one more example of
how, working together,
Ontarians
are achieving results to improve the quality of life for seniors.
Other
McGuinty government initiatives to support seniors include:
- Investing
an additional $104.7 million in funding for home care
services, bringing the total
funding for home care to $1.54 billion
for this year
-
Investing hundreds of millions of dollars to reduce wait times for
knee and hip joint replacements,
cardiac care, MRI and CT scans,
cataract and cancer surgeries
-
Committing an additional $1.65 million over the next two years for
Ontario's Strategy to Combat
Elder Abuse.
"Reaching out to seniors of
different cultures is part of the McGuinty
government's
commitment to help Ontario seniors live in safety, with dignity and
respect," said Bradley.
