Thanks for the feedback @MARILYNWHITECAMPBELL!
We agree that older adults are a priority population. This was actually one of the initial evidence themes out of our environmental scan looking at priority-setting documents for the mental health, substance use, and addictions system (page 48). Dialogue participants however, did not select this as one of their top evidence priority needs.
Specific evidence needs highlighting older adults did come up in the following areas:
Prevention and promotion, including suicide prevention
- How to engage those who may be at-risk, such as youth and isolated older adults, in prevention, promotion, and early identification initiatives. (page 29)
Continuum of Housing and Homelessness
- Suitability of transitional housing compared to other models for different needs and populations, including older adults. (page 19)
With regards to representation of older adults in the Sharing Together process, there were 58 participants representing older adults at the dialogues (page 52), and for the online survey 85 representatives (page 61).
If you have any ideas on how to engage this priority population in responding to the evidence needs above, as well as the rest of the evidence needs to include their voices, please let us know!