For many families, sending their elderly loved ones to a long-term care facility seems like the only choice.

However, one group of central Alberta families believes they’ve found an alternative – suitable homes that meet the needs of their family members.

Community Care Cottages is a company that runs these homes, which are houses that have been retrofitted so that eight to 10 seniors can live and receive the care they need. They live together, in community and in dignity.

Danielle Klooster is a community activist and speaks for the group, who gathered at the Red Deer library’s downtown branch last night to discuss what they consider a crisis in long-term care in the province.

Klooster says public long-term care facilities are modeled after acute care facilities – that is, they look and operate like hospitals, housing up to 100 people or more.

Klooster’s own mother spent a week in respite care, a temporary stay in a continuing care facility before transitioning to a permanent placement.

The experience was not a good one.

“As a result of that, we were definitely looking for a different option that would provide her with a measure of proper care and dignity and would not separate my parents who’ve been married for 60 years,” Klooster says.

That’s when care cottages, such as Spruce Cottage in Lacombe County emerged as an alternative, she continues.

These families want help to cover the cost of that care, through an Alberta Health Services program called the Self Managed Care Program, which provides home care clients with resources to pay for care and support directly.

“That is perfectly acceptable use of Self Managed Care funds. It is reasonable. It takes the pressure off of the system. It provides people with the ability to make a choice of where they live,” Klooster says.