Problem Mapping with St. Joseph’s Continuing Care Centre

As part of the Building With Mission process, and our commitment to working with demonstration sites like St. Joseph's Continuing Care Centre in Cornwall, a group of stakeholders gathered to help complete a problem-mapping workshop. To help the group articulate the problem, we went through a collaborative process to create an obstacle framework. In conversations with the group ahead of the workshops, two questions were prioritized for participants to respond to:

  • What are the biggest housing gaps faced by seniors in our community?

  • What barriers might our organization face in building housing for seniors?

In this case, eight themes were identified for each focus question. 

Gaps Faced By Seniors

  • The current options to house seniors do not recognize the diversity of older adults that need someone affordable to live

  • The current housing system for seniors is difficult to navigate with few available units that actually meet the specific needs of older adults

  • Many options are not affordable for older adults with a low fixed income, and those options that are affordable are not available

  • When options do become available, their is quickly a growing waitlist, whether it is for a bed, apartment, or even services to support aging in place

  • Limited multigenerational housing, or even housing where family is close by, results in a lack of continuity of care and fewer seniors aging in place

  • Access to supportive housing or services for older adults is restricted, resulting in inequitable service or only receiving service when in crisis

  • The current housing stock and related resources does not adequately meet the needs of older adults with differing cognitive abilities including dimentia

  • The case is similarly true for older adults with differing physical abilities, including the need for accessible units, buildings, and related transportation

Barriers We Face

  • Support and will from the community to pursue a building project 

  • Availability of funding, navigating the options that are available

  • Limited availability of land to build, competition for what is available

  • Lengthy approval process for building

  • Our capacity to co-design the new building with older adults

  • Expertise related to designing (and ultimately staff) 

  • Current guidelines/policies don’t accurate represent needs of today’s seniors

  • Understanding what demand will be over the medium to long term

These themes inform the project’s next steps and become a touchstone to be used throughout the project to validate and adjust the organization’s understanding of the problem.