Accessibility and availability of services have improved over time for citizens who receive home care.
The proportion of patients receiving home care services who reported that their services started as soon as they thought they needed them has improved since 2012 for both Extra-Mural Program (EMP) services and Home Support services (HSS). Additionally, in 2021, less home care clients reported that they experienced limits or reductions in their services than in previous years. (EMP & HSS)
Some measures of satisfaction with home care services have improved.
In 2021, 77.3% of EMP patients and 67.9% of HSS clients reported being very satisfied with the number of times they received services (compared to 75.9% and 64.4% in 2018). Further, when asked to rate their experience with the services they received, 95.6% of EMP patients and 87.9% of clients receiving HSS gave a favourable rating of either an 8, 9, or 10 out of 10.
Although the percentage of citizens who reported being offered services in their official language of choice remained stable, there was a decline in those who indicated always receiving their services in their preferred language.
In 2021, 94.9% of EMP clients and 91.5% of HSS clients reported that when they first started receiving home care services, the services were offered to them in the official language of their choice (compared to 94.1% and 90.9% in 2018). However, 91.5% of EMP clients reported always getting served in English when this was their preferred language and 77.3% of EMP clients reported always being served in French when this was their preferred language. These numbers decreased from 96.9% and 92.0% in 2018 respectively. For HSS, 86.1% of clients reported always being served in French when it was their preferred language (down from 91.1% in 2018).
NBHC has added new indicators to measure the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on citizens’ experiences with home care services.
In the 2021 edition of the Survey, 6.9% of EMP clients and 13.0% of HSS clients reported that they needed home care services but there were limits, reductions or cancelled visits due to the COVID-19 pandemic. COVID-19 impacts on home care services varied across the 7 health zones and were more pronounced for clients in Zone 4 (Madawaska and North-West Area).