Region: British Columbia

Setting: Urban

EAIP program principle(s): 

• Access to specialized healthcare services 
• Access to social and community supports 
• Access to system navigation and support 

Implementation (new, spread, and/or expand):   

• Expand 

Team Profile  

The team leading this initiative is the Fraser Healthy Authority. Team members include representatives from Fraser Health Authority, including a regional manager, team leader, interdisciplinary staff including a regional social worker, occupational therapist and program implementation staff. Clients and caregivers provide feedback into program development and delivery.  

Community

• Fraser Health Authority (FHA) is the heart of health care for more than 1.9 million people in 20 diverse communities from Burnaby to Fraser Canyon on the traditional, ancestral and unceded territories of the Coast Salish and Nlaka’pamux Nations. 
• FHA provides services to a mix of urban and rural areas, including Chilliwack, the community in which the NetCare day program is located. 
• In Chilliwack, 95% of the population speaks English with small communities speaking German, Punjabi, Korean, Chinese, Spanish, Dutch, French, Vietnamese, and Romanian. The median age is 41, with 16% of the population being over 65. The population of individuals aged 75 and older is projected to grow rapidly. 

Program Focus 

Program Description  

• Fraser Health’s Day Program for Older Adults (DPOA) offers in-person social connections, activities, exercise, and health checks for seniors with health challenges, supporting independent living and aging in place. The program expansion, NetCare DPOA, will introduce a hybrid in-person/virtual option for one hour daily, Monday to Friday, featuring exercise, music therapy, and “Bingocize”, which combines bingo, exercise, and health promotion in each session. The program aims to help clients stay at home longer, improve their health and well-being, reduce isolation, increase caregiver skills, and delay admission to long-term care. The expansion will provide structured exercise and social time, enhance physical, cognitive, and social functioning, increase comfort with technology, and strengthen community connections. It will serve medically frail older adults, those with cognitive impairments, at-risk caregivers, and socially isolated individuals, including current and waitlisted DPOA clients and Home Health clients in the community.  

Implementation Approach: 

• Initial Launch and Expansion: Begin with “Bingocize” sessions on Tuesdays and Thursdays and music therapy on Wednesdays for 1 hour each, running 12-week sessions. Plan to start with a soft launch of 3 days per week, targeting 10-12 participants to address and troubleshoot technical and equipment issues. Expand to include Carefit exercises on Mondays and Fridays by fall, increasing to 5 days per week.  
• Program Evaluation and Growth: Develop a process to track referrals and recommendations to and from community services by January 2025. Plan for potential expansion to other DPOAs in Fraser Health based on initial success and demand.