Moncton, NB (NBHC) - The New Brunswick Health Council (NBHC) is launching its second survey about the quality of home care provided to New Brunswickers. Citizens who have recently received home care services for which costs are entirely or partially covered by public funds may receive a survey by mail between March and June and will be asked about their experiences. The survey will look at accessing and navigating services, meeting the needs of clients and their families, provider/client communication, safety, equity based on preferred language of service, and overall satisfaction with services.
Home care includes health services that can be provided by a nurse, social worker, physiotherapist, occupational therapist, speech language pathologist, respiratory therapist, dietitian, or rehabilitation assistant; they are most often provided by the Extra-Mural Program.
Home care also includes personal care services provided by a home support worker to help with bathing, dressing, grooming, feeding, transferring, home cleaning, laundry, meal preparation, or respite/relief care; they are most often provided by home support agencies. In New Brunswick, the Department of Health funds the Extra-Mural Program and the Department of Social Development funds home support services, entirely or partially, based on eligibility.
The overall results of this survey will be made public in the fall of 2015 and will be available to the public, as well as to government departments, regional health authorities and home support agencies to help improve health services. Repeating this survey will allow for comparison with the results of the 2012 survey, and will allow the NBHC to observe if improvements have been made over the past three years when it comes to home care services in the province.
More information about the survey is available online at nbhc.ca
The NBHC has been established as an independent organization that measures, monitors and evaluates New Brunswick’s health system performance through a citizen-centered dual mandate of performance measurement and citizen engagement.
MEDIA CONTACTS
New Brunswick Health Council: Manon Arsenault, 506-869-6728, manon.arsenault@nbhc.ca