The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives is calling for changes in assisted living centres in BC.
A recent report raised concerns about an under-regulated, under-researched and largely privatized sector.
Speaking on The Jeff Andreas Show, President of the Licensed Practical Nurses Association of BC Anita Dickson says when people first come into assisted living homes they need limited supports, but as people continue to age in place they start to need more.
“As they start to decline in mobility, even their different dietary needs as they start to age… The increasing of needs has definitely been prevalent, but the staffing has not been able to be addressed.”
Dickson says assisted living homes are meant to offer small amounts of help to residents, but many are often in those homes and begin to need more extensive care.
“I’ve literally watched one single care aid running trying to assist so many seniors that they have now gotten to really care for, and then the LPN as they’re supervising they’re missing their breaks and not being able to meet their needs and it is ethically pulling on them. Same stories as what we hear in the long term care sector.”
She says as people age their needs increase but they don’t always move on to another facility that would provide the increased supports.
“One of the things that needs to be re-looked at is how do they come, what is the exit plan and then do they have a good way to be able to move to the next step. So there are a lot of gaps at that point.”
In the BCCCPA report one Licensed Practical Nurse is quoted as saying “[The] local hospital is very bad at giving [assisted living residents] a quick assessment and sending them back…and I spend days…on the phone talking to the hospital explaining to them…You can’t send somebody back that’s not walking anymore, that can’t call for that help, that’s not getting out of their room on their own.”
Dickson says she has seen staffing levels where there’s one care aid on for a whole building during the day. “And the expectation is to be servicing all of these people helping them, literally sometimes just walking people down to the dining room because they can’t find their way down to the dining room, but that’s their enjoyment. And then they’re running to be able to do that. Or you might have two care aids if you’re lucky in these environments, but then in between they’re supposed to be helping do laundry, they’re supposed to be doing housekeeping, it’s just that even some of their duties are quite blended.”
Dickson says employees get stressed out because they worry about getting those other duties done while also scrambling to do other tasks like helping residents get dressed.
There are also some issues raised through the new single-site plan that the province has put in place. Dickson says we have to look at wage compensation and making it standardized and it needs to come not only provincially, but at a national level. “Now that Pandora’s box has been opened on that issue, which is good, and then having sick time and being able to have proper benefits and just a health human resource component we need to look at that entity.”
