The New Brunswick Health Council (NBHC) is launching its fourth survey about the quality of home care in the province. 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 from mid-March until June that will ask them about their care experience. The survey will measure the quality of services, such as timely access, communication with home care providers, coordination of care, safety, overall satisfaction, and to what extent services are received in the preferred language of service.
Home care includes health and personal care services. Health services may be provided by a nurse, social worker, physiotherapist, occupational therapist, speech language pathologist, respiratory therapist, dietician, or rehabilitation assistant; they are most often provided by the Extra-Mural Program.
Personal care services are provided by a home support worker and may include 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. Home support services are entirely or partially funded by the Department of Social Development, depending on eligibility.
The results of this survey will be made public in the spring of 2022, possibly including trending and comparison with the results of the 2012, 2015 and 2018 surveys. This will depend on any impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the 2021 survey process or results. These results and comparisons will enable the NBHC to observe if improvements have been made to home care services in the province.
More information about the survey is available online at www.nbhc.ca/home
The NBHC is an independent organization that measures, monitors and evaluates New Brunswick’s health system performance through a citizen-centred dual mandate of performance measurement and public participation.
NOTE: Media are welcome to contact the NBHC at the start of the survey; for progress updates during the survey period, or after survey completion in June.
MEDIA CONTACTS
New Brunswick Health Council: Nay O’Leary, 506-869-6714 or nay.oleary@nbhc.ca