Report recommends postal workers help check in on seniors
Report recommends postal workers help check in on seniors
A new report from a think tank devoted to aging is proposing postal workers take on a new role to help seniors.
The National Institute on Ageing (NIA) released a report last week, saying postal workers should help check on seniors aging in place, noting that the profession is trusted and they have several skills that are beneficial for the role.
“In addition to being trusted community members, postal workers already conduct daily visits to residences in even the most rural communities, making them well positioned to potentially integrate other community support services into their work routines,” the report reads.
“Postal workers could also act as overseers of vulnerable populations through the unique knowledge of their customers they naturally accumulate on their regular delivery routes. Though the oversight they provide is primarily informal — for instance, postal workers generally know to knock on someone’s front door if their mail hasn’t been picked up for several days — there have been efforts to formalize and expand on it.”
The report says similar programs are underway in Japan and France.
Verena Menec, a University of Manitoba professor, said it’s important to ensure people are not isolated and still receiving social interaction.
She said there are physical and mental health issues that can develop from a lack of social interaction, including depression.
“We're social animals. We’re made to be with others,” she said.
While Menec is supportive of a daily check-in, and believes postal workers can offer some help, they may not be the best option.
"When there are other organizations already that could provide those services, I think they're in the better position to check in," she said.
Menec says a daily phone call might be better, which is offered by some services that specifically work with seniors.
The Canadian Union of Postal Workers is in support of the report, saying they have advocated for it for years.
“It would be good for the seniors and others who need it, and good for Canada Post, which is mandated to expend services to meet the population’s changing needs,” said Jan Simpson, CUPW president, in a prepared statement.
CTV News Winnipeg reached out to Canada Post for a response but has not heard back.
Cape Breton University has more than doubled in size by enrolling thousands of international students, and critics say the campus and community weren't ready. Watch the documentary 'Cash Cow' on CTV W5, Saturday at 7 p.m.
In a choice forced upon them by the Canadian government, four mothers have made the agonizing decision to forfeit an opportunity to repatriate their children from open air prisons in northeast Syria.
Statistics Canada has released its new report about the Canadians level of confidence in Canada’s institutions, finding that recent immigrants are more likely to express confidence in the media and parliament.
A new Canadian study of 4.8 million people says a daily alcoholic drink isn't likely to send anyone to an early grave, nor will it offer any of the health benefits touted by previous studies, even if it is organic red wine.
Lawyers representing Toronto MP Han Dong served Global News with a libel notice on Friday over reports that alleged he spoke to a Chinese diplomat in February 2021 about delaying the release of the two Michaels, and that he was a 'witting affiliate' of Chinese interference networks – allegations that Dong denies.
A recent report from Royal LePage is predicting a drop in prices for Canadian cabins and cottages this year as demand softens from economic uncertainty and low housing stock.
Interim RCMP commissioner Michael Duheme says he would support the Criminal Code changes recommended in the Mass Casualty Commission report to implement stricter gun laws.
The sale has started of former Saskatchewan government liquor store buildings. The province got out of liquor retailing earlier this month and is disposing of all assets.
In an attempt to take pressure off hospital emergency rooms, the Saskatchewan government will offer a bump in pay for family doctors who work later hours.
In an attempt to take pressure off hospital emergency rooms, the Saskatchewan government will offer a bump in pay for family doctors who work later hours.
Kevin Garinger says it feels like the passage of time is inexplicable. The five years since a deadly bus crash changed his city, his hockey team and his life sometimes feel like a lifetime. Other times it feels like yesterday.
A northern Ontario man has been banned from licenced hunting and fined $5,000 after pleading guilty to having more than six times the legal limit of grouse and obstructing conservation officers.
Ontario's guns and gangs team says with the help of police in Sudbury and Durham, it has disrupted a large drug trafficking operation, seizing 2.7 kilograms of cocaine and arresting six.
In one day, Ontario midwife Manavi Handa saw three patients who will have to pay thousands of dollars to be able to schedule a C-section beginning on Sunday.
Akwesasne Mohawk Police say they are working with Immigration Canada and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to confirm the identities of the eight migrants whose bodies were pulled from the St. Lawrence River this week.
Montreal's seasonal parking restrictions go into effect Saturday. As of April 1, parking will be limited during certain hours to make way for street cleaning and maintenance operations. Drivers should pay close attention to street signs to determine when and where it's safe to park.
Police say the bodies of eight migrants have been retrieved from the waters off the Mohawk Territory of Akwesasne, straddling the Canada - U.S. border. The people whose bodies were recovered Thursday and Friday consisted of two families of Romanian and Indian origins who were likely trying to enter the U.S. illegally, police said Friday.
After the RCMP commissioner admitted he didn't read the Mass Casualty Commission’s final recommendations, family members of those killed in the April 2020 tragedy say they have doubts the force will change.
A doctor named in a lawsuit after a Nova Scotia woman died in hospital following a long wait to see a physician has denied allegations from the family that he failed in his duties.
Officials in Vancouver said they plan to meet with the artist and volunteers who are keeping vigil on a children's shoe memorial on the steps of the city's art gallery in an effort to end the tribute to children who didn't return from residential schools.
B.C.'s securities regulator has permanently banned a Vancouver lawyer from the financial markets after he was convicted in a U.S. court for his role in a US$34-million fraud.
A Vancouver Island woman managed to capture something on video last Sunday that experts say is extremely rare. Maxine Gillette calls it a once in a lifetime experience.
A Vancouver Island musician and former church pastor will serve three months of house arrest, followed by 18 months of probation, after he was convicted of one count of sexual assault.
