Calls to Toronto Seniors Helpline are on the rise as older adults battle with points starting from no warmth of their properties to loneliness amid brutal chilly and impassable snow-covered sidewalks.
“(Many) seniors do face isolation anyway, however when it’s notably chilly and there’s extra concern of going out or different folks coming in, that simply sadly will increase charges of isolation,” mentioned Rochelle McAlister, who oversees the helpline run by WoodGreen Group Providers.
McAlister mentioned the helpline acquired 128 calls on Monday and Tuesday alone — about 50 per cent greater than common — proper after a snowstorm walloped southern Ontario.
Whereas numerous the helpline calls are from older adults who simply need somebody to speak to, others are about rapid life-threatening issues, together with not having warmth.
Some have misplaced their heating as a result of they’re residing in poverty and fell behind on their hydro payments, McAlister mentioned.
“Others have landlords who aren’t fixing their warmth for them,” she mentioned, whereas some had upkeep staff who couldn’t get to their buildings after the storm.
Many sidewalks and streets within the metropolis are nonetheless coated in snow and ice and never accessible for folks with mobility points, so seniors are additionally having bother with fundamental wants, resembling getting groceries or going to medical appointments, McAlister mentioned.
Geriatric specialists say seniors are among the many most weak folks in winter.
Physiological adjustments as we age make seniors extra weak to chilly than different adults, mentioned Dr. Richard Norman, geriatrics lead for College Well being Community in Toronto.
Some continual circumstances, resembling thyroid illness or diabetes, could make them “much less capable of adapt or reply to excessive chilly,” he mentioned.
Get every day Nationwide information
Get the day’s prime information, political, financial, and present affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox as soon as a day.
“They could even be on medicines which will blunt the conventional physiologic response to chilly, so these could be issues like some blood stress medicines, beta blockers, and they also could also be much less tolerant of the acute chilly that we’ve all been experiencing currently,” Norman mentioned.
Vasoconstriction and vasodilation — the tightening and enjoyable of blood vessels to regulate physique temperature — will also be compromised in older folks.
Along with the risks of chilly climate, treacherous strolling circumstances pose a critical danger for falls if seniors enterprise outdoors, he mentioned.
“There’s good knowledge from inside Canada that the chance of falling really stays elevated for as much as seven days after a serious occasion like a snowstorm.” he mentioned.
The commonest sort of fracture from a slip and fall is a damaged wrist, Norman mentioned, however seniors are additionally liable to hip fractures and head accidents.
Medical doctors and social service staff notably fear about seniors with dementia in winter.
“Any individual might not have the cognitive expertise to decorate appropriately for the climate after which they’re intersecting with very harmful circumstances, and issues like hypothermia or frostbite can develop in as little as 10 or quarter-hour,” Norman mentioned.
McAlister mentioned WoodGreen workers have seen “actually unhappy” circumstances of seniors wandering, together with some who had holes of their footwear or didn’t have footwear on in any respect.
They’ve additionally had reviews of seniors with cognitive decline doing harmful issues of their properties to attempt to heat up, together with leaving ovens on all night time or placing garments in them.
Dr. Jillian Alston, a geriatrician at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto, mentioned routines are essential for managing dementia, however they are often disrupted by the snow and ice.
“With the cancellation of issues like day applications or not having the ability to go for his or her normal stroll, what I’ve typically heard from caregivers is that’s after they may begin to see … extra agitation,” she mentioned.
Preserving seniors “cooped up as a result of they will’t do their normal routine” can improve their tendency to wander, Alston mentioned.
“(That’s) one thing that I actually, actually fear about, particularly within the people who find themselves extra remoted, who won’t have these normal checks in on them.”
McAlister inspired the general public to be looking out for individuals who appear misplaced outdoors or aren’t carrying acceptable winter clothes.
“In the event you occur to see a senior who seems like they could be wandering … (or) unsure the place they’re, it’s OK simply to — in a non-threatening approach — go as much as them and simply ask in the event that they’re OK, in the event that they do want any assist,” she mentioned.
Norman known as on folks to be “neighbourly” to older folks of their communities.
“Assist them shovel their driveway or their stairs, verify in to be sure that they’ve groceries, make a social name if that particular person is remoted,” he mentioned.
“I believe that may make an enormous distinction in folks’s well being and well-being.”
Alston advised older adults ought to take into consideration how they are often ready for winter circumstances, together with being conscious of warming centres and different respite websites if there’s a heating drawback of their residence or if they’re homeless.
McAlister mentioned seniors typically really feel ashamed to ask for assist, however urged them to beat that stigma and attain out to members of the family, folks of their neighborhood or service businesses and helplines.
Seniors or anybody involved about an older grownup in Toronto can attain the seniors helpline at 416-217-2077. McAlister mentioned there are seniors companies in different cities throughout Canada and really helpful that anybody in search of assist outdoors of Toronto name 211.
© 2026 The Canadian Press
