Feb 05 2019 | Gary Schneider
In a response to trying to open up hospital beds, many seniors are now simply being ejected and transferred somewhere else that's out-of-sight and out-of-mind.
For the most part, many nursing homes have become nothing more than a warehouse for aging people. While a family may want their parent to be somewhere safe, it comes at the cost of that person being subjected to boredom, depression, neglect, and... yes... even abuse.
Life insurance actuaries say that most people who become a nursing home patient will die within 2 years. One in three will die within a year. Less than 15% receive hospice care for their end-of-life needs, which can often be quite painful.
Basically, elders are shuffled-off into a building, simply waiting to die a horrible and lonely death.
Increased neglect can harm or kill vulnerable seniors.
So, never mind the retirement hype your hear about when it comes to 'sing-songs' around the piano, bingo games, or movie nights... these are seniors trapped in a bed all day without the most minimal care that they need, let alone the dignity they deserve.
There is a staffing shortage ‘crisis’ for Personal Support Workers (PSWs) in Ontario that has given rise to the increased risk of failing to provide even the most basic of health care to several thousands of seniors now already residing in long-term care facilities, such as nursing homes or memory care units.
The increasing demand for nursing care needs for seniors is in direct competition with an already inadequate and declining supply of qualified staff (both nurses and PSWs) that are required to service them.
The volume and ratio of patients to staff simply keeps getting larger and larger, to the point where wait times to merely help them use the bathroom, be washed, or get fed, has generated a genuine CRISIS in the system for seniors in Ontario.
DOUG FORD, Premier of Ontario under the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario, declared that they will open-up another 15,000 beds for nursing care, but nowhere is there a clear plan or timeline to address the shortage of actual care workers required to support the existing beds, let alone the additional beds. While it may offer a sense of hope or relief to many families with loved ones on a wait-list to get into one of these beds, the pressure for servicing those patients will only get worse.
As a financial advisor, I have come across several horror stories told to me by families who have a spouse or parent in a nursing home, who have been neglected or physically harmed by untrained staff. On the flip side, staffing positions are difficult to fill by competently trained people, because the hours are long and stressful, and staff are often victims of attacks by their own patients, who are merely reacting out of a fear from unfamiliar surroundings; keep in mind that people with memory or cognitive issues don't behave like normal patients. As a result of staff shortages, the homes are left to employing almost anyone with a pulse willing to do the work. Despite the number of qualified and caring people that provide their services, the gap in the demand for extra staff, and the lack of interest by people to fill these open positions, creates a vacuum for the wrong people to enter the industry.
Both sides are losing the war.
No one is a winner here. The career ‘shelf life’ of a nurse or Personal Support Worker (PSW) is shortened, and the life expectancy of a patient is radically reduced.
Solutions to Consider
The HOME EQUITY INCOME PROGRAM or the SENIOR INCOME RELIEF PROGRAM are ways to reduce the financial stress of paying for the in-home care for someone you love. The solution allows a person to live with dignity in the familiar comfort of their own home. Nursing homes are... and perhaps should be seen as... an option of LAST resort. Receiving in-home care by a qualified nurse that you've personally selected, vetted, and trust, may be your option of FIRST CHOICE.
The program is designed to support families who are sincerely trying to care for a loved one that suffers from a physical or mental impairment (cognitive or memory issues). It also flexibly addresses the potential future need to transfer a person from an in-home care setting to a nursing home (where the situation so dictates). As such, the solution can improve their nursing home care options from merely ordinary (which is often very poor) to superior (better quality of life).
ASK YOUR ADVISOR HOW THE HOME EQUITY INCOME PROGRAM OR THE SENIOR INCOME RELIEF PROGRAM CAN HELP YOU WITH THE LONG-TERM CARE NEEDS FOR SOMEONE YOU LOVE.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
A recent CBC Marketplace segment highlights the realities of these issues through first-hand accounts.
SHOW TITLE:
"Crying Out For Care: Undercover, Understaffed" (Run Time: 22 min 26 sec)
SOURCE:
CBC MARKETPLACE | Season 46 Episode 13 (2019) | Broadcast Date: Jan 26 2019
SHOW DESCRIPTION:
Marketplace goes undercover inside long term care homes to see what happens when funding shortages cause crucial staff cuts. We follow one daughter who installs a hidden camera in her mother's room.
LINK TO VIDEO:
https://www.cbc.ca/marketplace/episodes/2017-2018/crying-out-for-care
VIDEO FOLLOW-UP ARTICLE:
Hidden-camera footage reveals overstretched nursing home staff struggling to care for residents. Journalist went undercover at long-term care facility and found staff struggling to keep up with care needs (Katie Pedersen, Melissa Mancini · CBC News · Posted: Feb 01, 2019 4:00 AM ET) https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/long-term-care-marketplace-hidden-camera-1.498831