Premature placement in residential care, overuse of drugs and lack of rehabilitative therapy for seniors in residential care are just a few of the troubling findings in the latest report of the Office of the Seniors Advocate.
Isobel Mackenzie’s report: Placement, Drugs and Therapy…We Can Do Better was released on Tuesday and it does not paint a pretty picture of the way seniors are being cared for in residential facilities.
The report documents findings from Mackenzie’s review of health assessment records from B.C.’s 25,000 seniors in residential care and 29,000 seniors receiving home care.
These assessment records have never before been gathered, analyzed and reported on at the provincial level.
Mackenzie found that up to 15 per cent of B.C. seniors who are living in residential care might be incorrectly housed, with assisted living or community care being the better option. That means, as she reported, that if we are filling even five per cent of these beds with people who could be living independently, 1,500 beds could be opened up province-wide. With news reports almost weekly of bed shortages in hospitals and care facilities and horror stories of patients stuck in hallways because beds are scarce, this is a very troubling revelation.
Another finding that is equally disturbing is about 47 per cent of residential care clients are being prescribed antidepressant medications, while only 24 per cent of these clients actually have been assessed as having depression and are in need of that medication.
This is very alarming. Are seniors being robbed of enjoying their golden years in relative peace and harmony for the sake of convenience? Are we saying it really doesn’t matter or that it is easier on health care staff to overprescribe unnecessary drugs? That’s what this report suggests.
And lastly, the report points to a severe lack of proper rehab therapy for seniors — another troubling finding. Ensuring that seniors are moving and functioning properly is paramount to maintaining their health and independence. Without that, it’s like the system is saying it doesn’t care about our seniors, and that’s very sad indeed.
The provincial government must do better. When health authorities and service providers ask for more funding, the familiar response from government seems to be “get more creative.” But that answer has to stop. Clearly seniors’ care is lacking in many areas. We need to ask ourselves what we are willing to do today to ensure we have a better tomorrow.
