- 6 June, 2006 -

About 4.2 million people ? more than 13% of the population ? are age 65 years and older.* By 2026, about 20% of the population will be age 65 and older. The proportion of Canadians age 85 and older is expected to grow to 1.6 million in 2041 ? 4% of the overall population. The senior population is expected to reach 6.7 million in 2021 and 9.2 million in 2041 when nearly one in four Canadians will be over age 65 years. Five of six Canadian seniors live in Canada's four most populated provinces: Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia and Alberta. Source: * Statistics Canada Canada's Aging Population, Division of Aging and Seniors, Health Canada Who Provides Home Care? Between 2.5 and 3 million family members provide caregiving support and assistance to family members with a disability or healthrelated need. More than 75% of Canadian caregivers are women.* Many belong to the growing "sandwich generation," caring for young families at the same time they care for their parents. Almost two-thirds (62%) of caregivers work outside the home. Because of increases in life expectancy, there is an increase in the number of spousal caregivers in their 80s. Many are very frail or have chronic illnesses themselves. Women in their 60s and 70s are confronted with the caregiving needs of spouses or elderly parents ? often their widowed mothers ? at the same time they are facing adjustments related to retirement and their own health problems. Source: * Citizens for Mental Health Economic Security for Caregivers from the Canadian Association for Community Living (CACL) in partnership with The Canadian Caregiver Coalition (CCC-CCAN), August 2003. Fact Sheet Who Needs Help? About 44% of caregivers incur extra financial costs associated with caregiving responsibilities such as decreased salary due to absences, lost promotion opportunities and reduced retirement benefits.* About half of all Canadians with dementia live at home, and 8% have only one caregiver for support. Only 3.4% of those caring for a family member with dementia use respite care. About 40% of those caring for someone with moderate dementia at home report symptoms of depression. Source: * Economic Security for Caregivers from the Canadian Association for Community Living (CACL) in partnership with The Canadian Caregiver Coalition (CCC-CCAN), August 2003. Canadian Study of Health and Aging Working Group: Patterns of caring for people with dementia in Canada. Who Can Help? Home Instead Senior Care? is the world's largest provider of non-medical home care and companionship services for seniors, with more than 625 independently owned and operated franchises in Canada, the United States, Japan, Portugal, Australia, Ireland, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Services include companionship, meal preparation, medication reminders, light housekeeping and escort for errands and shopping. More than 30,000 CAREGiversSM are screened, trained, bonded, insured and have successfully passed a thorough criminal background check. The average age of a Home Instead CAREGiver is 48 years. Home Instead Senior Care services are available at home or in care communities for a few hours per week, or as many as 24-hours-a-day, seven days-a-week, including holidays. In 2005, Home Instead Senior Care received the Best Employer Award for 50-Plus Canadians from the Canadian Association of Retired Persons (CARP). The award recognizes best practices for employers in recruitment, corporate culture, wages/salaries, continuing education, advancement opportunities and benefits/retirement planning for employees 50 years and older. Home Instead CAREGivers complete a multi-phased safety and caregiving education program. This features case studies, information about senior illnesses, stimulating activities, nutritional recipes, tips for coping with stress and industry information, followed by testing. In addition, Home Instead Senior Care offers an industry-leading Alzheimer's training program to CAREGivers. This Alzheimer's training program is the first of its kind for non-medical caregivers. For more information about the company and its franchise owners visit homeinstead.com. ? Home Instead, Inc. 2006 Each Home Instead Senior Care franchise office is independently owned and operated. FACT.CA.0106

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