Program that supports seniors living at home expands in rural New Brunswick

A new program in rural New Brunswick is bringing some of the benefits of a nursing home directly to the community.

For dozens of seniors in the Fundy Rural District’s Brown Flat area, that means more support without having to leave home.

“I want to be fit, but most of all, we want to be in our homes,” said Sandy MacKinnon, 76.

MacKinnon is one of about 45 participants in the Nursing Home Without Walls program, which offers nursing home-like support and activities during the day.

The program has been running since September at the River Road Hub.

Backed by the Rocmaura Nursing Home in Saint John, it offers exercise, shared meals and social and medical assistance.

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“We want to eliminate social isolation and speak about making meals and you know all of those types of things that make communities and seniors stronger,” said Christina Harvey, Greenwich Community Centre Nursing Homes Without Walls’ executive sponsor.

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Five staff members support the facility, including a kinesiologist and a staff member with a nursing degree.

MacKinnon says the program gives her friendship and a reason to get out.

“Then when we go home, the emptiness is not nearly as bad, because we know we’re going to come here again,” she said.

New Brunswick Health Minister John Dornan says that kind of support could also keep some seniors out of hospitals.

“Sometimes that inability to drive or inability to get a fresh meal or inability to socialize, it’s all that’s between them and being in a hospital or nursing home,” he said.

The River Road Hub is the province’s 38th site for the program. Its annual budget has grown to $12 million, including $4 million in new funding.

“Each program is related to the needs of the seniors of their communities. Sometimes it’s different from one program to another program,” said Minister of Seniors Lyne Chantal Boudreau.

More than 7,700 seniors have used the program since its launch in 2019 and organizers say this newest site could eventually grow from 45 participants to as many as 200.