It's time to make seniors care a national priority: Canadian Association of Retired Persons (CARP) and the Canadian Medical Association (CMA) to host parallel roundtable at Premier's meeting in Charlottetown

OTTAWA and TORONTO, Aug. 25, 2014 /CNW/ - The Canadian Medical Association (CMA) and the Canadian Association of Retired Persons (CARP) will co-host a seniors care roundtable on Aug. 28 in Charlottetown as a parallel event to the Council of Federation meeting.

Ministers, MPs and the Mayor of Charlottetown have been invited to the roundtable and the event is open to the public and media.

CARP and the CMA's seniors care roundtable discussion will help shape a national seniors strategy. The two organizations are working together to make a national seniors strategy a key priority in the upcoming federal election.

A joint letter, found on the CMA and CARP websites, was sent to the chairs of the Health Care Innovation Working Group to encourage the Premiers to lead the establishment of a national seniors strategy that fully addresses the needs and expectations of an aging population. The letter identified five transformative goals for a national seniors strategy:

• National standards — benchmarks, and funding for access to high quality health care.
• Equitable and timely access to care, treatment and medication regardless of residence, income, age or medical condition.
• Modernize practice protocols — infrastructure and training to deliver services that are patient focused and address emerging priorities, including the aging population and make optimal use of resources to ensure the sustainability of the system.
• Public accountability for standards of practice, responsible use of resources and transparency.
• Support for healthy aging through health promotion and illness prevention programs.

Polling by the CMA and CARP recently has shown seniors health care to be a national priority issue. The CARP poll from Aug. 12 showed that CARP members think that the most useful outcome of the upcoming Council of the Federation meeting would be national standards for health care and a comprehensive national seniors health care strategy. CMA's report released on Aug. 18 showed that 95% of respondents support the need for a national strategy for seniors health care.

Event details:

Date:	Thursday, Aug. 28, 2014
Time:	1 p.m. - 2:30 p.m.
Location:	Confederation Centre of the Arts – Memorial hall
	145 Richmond St, Charlottetown
Hosts:	Dr. Chris Simpson, President, CMA
	Ms. Susan Eng, VP Advocacy, CARP
Media:	Open to media and public

The Canadian Medical Association (CMA) is the national voice of Canadian physicians. Founded in 1867, the CMA is a voluntary professional organization representing more than 80,000 of Canada's physicians and comprising 12 provincial and territorial medical associations and 60 national medical organizations. CMA's mission is to serve and unite the physicians of Canada and be the national advocate, in partnership with the people of Canada, for the highest standards of health and health care. www.CMA.ca

CARP is a national, non-partisan, non-profit organization committed to advocating for a New Vision of Aging for Canada, social change that will bring financial security, equitable access to health care and freedom from discrimination. CARP seeks to ensure that the marketplace serves the needs and expectations of our generation and provides value-added benefits, products and services to our members. Through our network of chapters across Canada, CARP is dedicated to building a sense of community and shared values among our members in support of CARP's mission. www.CARP.ca

SOURCE: Canadian Medical Association

Steve Wharry, Canadian Medical Association, Cell: 613-298-4669; Sarah Park, CARP, [email protected], 416.607.2471, Mobile: [phone]