Many seniors coping with long-term illness and injury do not have the financial resources required to purchase or rent medical equipment. The Aids to Independent Living program loans medical equipment, free of charge, to Home Health clients living in the following areas:
Abbotsford
Agassiz
Burnaby
Coquitlam
Chiliwack
Delta
Hope
Langley
Maple Ridge
Mission
New Westminster
North Vancouver
Pitt Meadows
Port Coquitlam
Richmond
Surrey
Vancouver
West Vancouver
White Rock
Who is eligible?
Clients must be referred by an occupational therapist, homecare nurse, physiotherapist, or other health unit staff and must live in the areas listed above. Clients must also undergo a financial eligibility test. Equipment is not available to clients in extended care facilities.
What is the financial eligibility test?
To qualify for equipment, a client must have less that $20,000 in savings. Allowable income is $20,000 for one person and up to $26,000 for a person with children or a spouse with a disability.
What equipment is available?
The program has a stock of both new and used equipment for loan. Equipment available includes wheelchairs, bath aids, toiletting aids, cushions, handipoles, grab bars, walkers, hospital beds. There is a waiting list for some items.
If a client is eligible for equipment, it is loaned out for as long as the person needs it. Program staff periodically check on the condition of the equipment and arrange for repairs to be done as necessary.
How does a person apply to the program?
Application is made on the client’s behalf by staff in the participating health units and hospitals. If a person has not been seen by any of the health professionals listed above, he/she can call the local health unit and ask to be assessed by a therapist for the necessary equipment. Once the therapist has completed a home visit, an application will be made to the AIL program if appropriate.
Contracted by the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority, this program provides equipment to palliative patients in Vancouver. Click here for further details.
You Make the Difference – Support Our Health Equipment Loan Program More than 220,000 loans of health equipment are made possible through the generous support of donors like you. Please donate to the Canadian Red Cross Fund today.
