Today, Susan Walsh, Seniors’ Advocate for Newfoundland and Labrador, released a report titled An Ounce of Prevention is Worth a Pound of Cure. The report outlines research her office completed on what modifications and assistive devices seniors need to age well at home and makes six recommendations to government.

Survey results found that 87 per cent of respondents agreed that “it is never too early to start preparing for your senior years”, 89 per cent acknowledged that it is likely they will require assistive devices as they age, and 76 per cent were willing to make the changes to their home.

However, only 27 per cent of respondents had adjusted their home with the likelihood increasing with age. In fact, 53 per cent of seniors over 84 years of age had made a change, suggesting the modifications were likely made from necessity versus from a preventative perspective.

The main barriers to make proactive modification are cost (80 per cent), lack of knowledge on who to contact (52 per cent), what changes to make (37 per cent), and need for guidance on the changes (36 per cent).

To promote prevention and support seniors in NL to age well at home the Seniors’ Advocate has made six (6) recommendations:

• Four (4) to the Department of Health and Community Services including: developing a senior friendly “How To” guide, implementing a public awareness campaign on prevention, expanding community-based physiotherapy and occupational therapy services to promote seniors’ independence, and expanding the Prescription Drug 65Plus Plan to cover assistive devices.
• Two (2) to Newfoundland and Labrador Housing focused on: expanding the Home Modification Program to include a preventative approach including providing small preventative home modifications without needing an assessment and providing a no cost loan to those that don’t qualify for the Home Modification Program but want to make preventative changes.

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“Seniors want to age well in their homes but need help to figure out how to prevent falls and other injuries that can cause admission to hospital and long term care and where to get that support. Today I am making recommendations to support a preventative approach as seniors know well that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”
Susan Walsh
Seniors’ Advocate NL

The report can be accessed at: www.seniorsadvocatenl.ca/pdfs/AnOunceOfPreventionIsWorthAPoundOfCure-April15-2025.pdf

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Media contact
Arlene Mullins
Office of the Seniors’ Advocate
709- 729-6603, 1-833-729-6603 (toll-free)
seniorsadvocate@seniorsadvocatenl.ca