AFP/AAC Newsletter #32 - English

Issue #32 • March 2019 Armed Forces Pensioners’ / Annuitants’ Association of Canada mation is required to prove an ur- gent need for emergency funding. Decisions are typically made within one to two business days of an application being submitted and if approved, payment will be issued within that time frame. Should help be required with completing any application, staff at any VAC office or Integrated Personnel Support Centre (IPSC) can assist; help can also be obtained by calling 1-866- 522-2122. Additional information Please note that there are alterna- tive sources of funding available in several related programs. These include the Assistance Fund, a cash grant that those receiving the War Veterans Allowance may qualify for to help in an emergency as well as the Canadian Forces Income Support, a tax-free monthly benefit to help low-income veterans, survi- vors, and dependent children. If an emergency happens outside VAC office hours, contact the nearest provincial or territorial emergency management organization. n A recently-published Statistics Canada paper provides some interesting insight into the future needs of today’s veterans. As the accompanying Health Indicators for Veterans article in this AFP/ AAC newsletter explains in greater detail, current and future health challenges are a key part of the pic- ture. The comprehensive data gath- ering and analysis that went into the report yields clues as to what veter- ans’ medical needs are likely to be in both the short and long term. As a planning tool, the report adds to our understanding of our veteran population by providing a snapshot of the current and fore- casted size and age structure of this population. It also examines the health of two eras of veterans (pre and post 1954) and compares their data to a comparable section of the general Canadian population. The research team found that there were an estimated 658,000 veterans – including former mem- bers of both the Regular and Re- serve Forces – living in Canada as of March 2017. This number comes from Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC) data which uses several sources to estimate the size and age structure of our country’s veteran population. These sources are used to forecast future veteran population estimates, but do not provide detailed informa- tion about veterans’ health. While VAC is able to provide some health information about veterans, their data is incomplete as less than 20% of veterans are cur- rently VAC clients. The researchers therefore had to rely on survey data to compile a snapshot of veterans’ needs; the two key sources of infor- mation were Statistics Canada’s Ca- nadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) and the Life After Service Survey (LASS), also conducted by Statistics Canada and developed from administrative records provid- ed by Veterans Affairs Canada and the Department of National De- fence. In addition, age- and sex-spe- cific Canadian life expectancies were applied to the original source data to produce annual updates and forecasts of the size and age struc- ture of the veteran population. In 2017, VAC estimated that the Canadian Veteran population was 658,000, representing about 4% of the Canadian adult male population and less than 1% of the Canadian adult female population). VAC fore- casts of war service veterans (service prior to 1954) declined from 1.2 million in 1951 to 312,000 in 2003, a number that was actually lower than the 360,000 which had been esti- mated by the 2003 CCHS. By 2017, there were a forecasted 58,000 war service Veterans, with an average age of 91. Obviously, this population will continue to decline in number and it is anticipated that by 2026, there will be very few remaining war service Veterans in Canada. When the survey was conducted in 2003, few of the Veterans released after 1954 were older than 70 years of age. Although newly-released person- nel will join this group every year, it is still anticipated that the ‘older than 70’ group will continue to increase, reaching 33% by 2026, resulting in corresponding health care costs which will be borne jointly by VAC and provincial/territorial ministries of health. As mentioned, details on the health indicators – both physical and mental – for those released since 1954 are discussed in the accompanying article in this newsletter. In summary, this study provides evidence that more Veterans will be living longer than in the past, how- ever, many will experience greater activity limitations and mental health problems than their peers in the general Canadian population. This information is important for future resource planning as when these Veterans’ health deteriorates, both VAC and provincial health care systems, will be involved in supporting them and their families. To learn more about the data col- lected and methods that were used in the preparation of this report, please visit https://www150.statcan. gc.ca/n1/pub/82-003-x/2018011/ article/00003-eng.htm . n Study seeks to enhance understanding of Canadian Veterans’ future needs