A pioneering way to deliver assisted living services could be percolating this minute in an Alberta outpost, the cabinet minister touting a new grant believes.
And a jolt of cash may be all that lies between that vision and better lives for more people in more places, said Nathan Neudorf, the minister of assisted living and social services.
“You never know where a great idea can come up,” Neudorf said, as he explained the reasoning behind the $200-million Assisted Living Innovation Grant Program.
An approach developed in a small community could be “a really great idea and it’s working really well,” he said. “Can we replicate that across the province? That’s what we’re looking to do.”
Eligible businesses or groups need to gather their thoughts and materials soon to apply.
The deadline is 4 p.m. on Nov. 6 for proposals under an initial tranche of $50 million. Single-year projects will be considered for between $50,000 and $2 million, multi-year ones of up to three years for between $250,000 and $5 million.
Explained Neudorf: “What we need is a really good idea with some applicable information. Where is it going to be applied? How is it going to be applied? Why are you asking for the amount of money you’re asking for?”
But he noted that proposals “can’t be completely out of left field” and must be channeled through eligible organizations.
“Show us you can do it. We will evaluate it,” said Neudorf, who represents Lethbridge-East under the UCP banner. ”We think there are a lot of ideas out there.”
An information webinar happens this coming Tuesday, Oct. 27, from 2 to 3 p.m. And questions will be taken until 4 p.m. on Nov. 4.
Eligible projects might use technology like virtual and remote support services to help Albertans stay independent within their homes, the province suggests.
Novel approaches for supporting continuing care workers are fair game. So are community-based services that help support those receiving and giving care.
The program will also fund research into new approaches to improve care in ways that will work elsewhere, the government said in announcing the grant earlier this month.
A successful proposal “can look like a number of things, but at the end of the day, it’s about Albertans having a better life for longer, wherever that might be for them,” said the minister.
Eligible organizations include non-profit, community and in certain cases for-profit groups involved in continuing, home and community care. Indigenous communities and organizations in Alberta, along with Alberta municipalities, are eligible.
Post-secondary and research institutions can make proposals that tap into the grant, too.
For-profit groups need to demonstrate innovation, education, system improvement or evidence generation in their proposals. Proposed spending must go beyond routine business.
Even if the province doesn’t get its money back in eventual savings, the program could prove successful, Neudorf said. The win would be that more Albertans who need care — many of them in the province’s ballooning contingent of senior citizens — receive it where and when it’s needed.
For rural and remote Alberta, that often means keeping older generations close or within their home communities for longer. Everyone benefits when seniors are nearby, the minister said.
“If kids just have to go down the road to see their grandparents, that’s great. They might stop in literally every day after school instead of only on certain weekends when they can make the trek to the big city,” Neudorf said.
Seniors connect communities and young people to a shared past, he said, and often put their experience and knowledge to work as volunteers.
Assisted living keeps jobs and care in rural Alberta, and “keeps the heartbeat alive, which is families and organizations.”
For more information, visit alberta.ca and search for the Assisted Living Innovation Grant Program.
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George Lee, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Macleod Gazette.