Aging Parents and Elder Care

Elderly people particularly vulnerable to the dangers of heatwaves, Independa medical director warns

2012-03-01T00:49:00.000-08:00

Press release Source: Independa Wednesday, August 3, 2011, 9: 00 am EDT

SAN DIEGO, the 3 August 2011/PRNewswire / - as the cities of the United States from the record-breaking heat wave this summer, is essential for those who care for the elderly to proactively protect their health, said Dr. Richard Della Penna, medical director of Independa ?, Inc. and an expert in attention. He adds that emerging technology makes it easier to take precautions and learn of potential problems.

"The elderly have increased risk for the population in general during extremely hot weather because our bodies do not respond to changes in temperature in the same way as we get older", says Della Penna. "More than cause discomfort, sustained heat and humidity are dangerous for the elderly".

By what age are you susceptible?

Factors, elders do not always feel so warm as young people in higher temperatures and do not necessarily feel thirst. Medical conditions can further decrease the ability of elderly people to deal with heat-related stress, and medications can interfere with the ability of cooling of their bodies, adds Della Penna.

Habits and lifestyles also play a role. Because they chill easily, older adults tend to dress warmly. They may not have air conditioning or fans, and even if they do, the people on fixed incomes often hesitate to use these electrical devices. In urban areas, older persons close often their Windows and doors for fear of crime.

"Isolation certainly is a risk factor for the elderly," said Della Penna. "Many of those who die during heat waves are the elderly who live alone and have no one to check on them."

During the hot spell that hit Chicago in July 1995, the death of 522 371 reported participants 65 years of age. This summer, the national weather service attributed as 64 deaths from the heat wave at the end of July as the Middle West, East and Southern States experienced temperatures in the 90s and 100s.

How can carers help

Della Penna requests for carers to act now, using technology of virtual communication and follow-up if they do not live near or far are on vacation.

"New technology enables remote caregiver proactive and be notified of possible danger signs," he said.

Della Penna recommends the following measures for carers:

Monitor weather reports and reach the recipients of care when the weather forecast calls for a heat wave, which can help them plan. Currently customers Independa can organize alerts linked to the outside temperature, for example, if the temperature reaches 90 degrees and can monitor local weather from the recipients attention from its desktop software.Encourage older to wear light clothing, loose.Assist older people to drink water or juice during the day. Reminder from Teleassistance for Independa platform can be programmed to send reminders to drink liquids at regular intervals of the recipients.To encourage recipients of care to use the air conditioning or fans in their homes, or to move environments more frescoes in homes of friends, cooling centres or other public places. If necessary, emergency transport.They suggest to minimize activities that generate heat in the home, including cooking with the stove or oven.You should avoid strenuous exercise.Talk to your doctor the recipient's attention about medications and ask about possible changes in the short term, for example, to protect against dehydration.

"Taking advantage of benefits of the technology and the medical staff care receivers", says Della Penna. "To provide advice for the elderly and helping them to plan for high temperatures, caregivers can leverage them take care to protect themselves." Caregivers can also use the technology to "see" their loved the or the patients houses and intervene if something doesn't seem quite right. "

Della Penna is guiding efforts to Independa to help the family and professional caregivers prolonging the independence of the elderly to promote their health, safety and social commitment of remotely. Previously served as the national lead clinical care and Medical Director of the aging Kaiser permanent network and is a member of the Council of Association of national Alzheimer of Geriatrics and Gerontology Committee of Veterans Administration.

About Independa, Inc.

Independa, Inc. provides an integrated platform to help the family and professional caregivers, patients and their loved ones to continue living at home, more comfortable and more secure. Independa specializes in the delivery of technology products and services for the growing population of nearly 50 million U.S. adults support to relatives of age advanced. It also supports home-based care and other professionals to offer remote assistance. "Independa provides an integrated, cost-effective and real-time response to the key question," How is my beloved"?" With Independa, caregivers can delay or eliminate the costly and feared movement to an assisted living facility.

Team of disciplined leadership of cross Independa and expert Advisory Board understand the market, technology and the needs of older persons and their caregivers. Private held and headquartered in San Diego, Independa, has closed its second round seeds and in discussions active with the next stage investors and strategic partners.

Web: http://www.independa.com

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/independa4u

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The Elder-Care Crapshoot

2012-02-28T06:50:00.000-08:00

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When Deborah Lanne went looking for live-in care for her ailing, 80-year-old father, she was initially optimistic: His long-term-care insurance policy required that a professional geriatric-care manager conduct an assessment of his needs, devise a comprehensive care plan and update it monthly. But the Beacon Falls, Conn., government worker was less impressed with the plan's execution: A parade of 26 home health aides in 10 months' time all seemed poorly screened and mismatched. One, she says, tried to get Debbie's father to invest in a gym venture; another left him unattended for hours while she Skyped loudly. "We had to learn the hard way," says Lanne.

Enter the health care industry's little-known middleman. Turns out, finding good care for today's elders is just the tip of the iceberg -- now there's the added step of finding a trustworthy "manager" for that care. (For her part, Lanne tried several before finding one through a national firm called SeniorBridge.) Indeed, as baby boomers hit age 65 in record numbers, the government estimates that 70 percent of them will require long-term care -- prompting predictions that the market for elder-care management has only begun to explode. With comforting names like Aging Gracefully or A Servant's Heart, most services are tiny local outfits, usually a licensed social worker or a nurse hanging out a shingle as a "geriatric-care manager" or "elder-care consultant." But there's also a handful of fast-growing national companies -- such as Los Angeles-based LivHome, which says its gross revenue nearly doubled from 2004 to 2010, to $48 million, and SeniorBridge, which boasts 44 offices nationwide, triple the number it had in 2008.

Trouble is, critics say, it's hard to sort out who's a pro, who's a well-meaning newbie and who's just rubber-stamping required insurance forms. Because states don't yet require licensing for these managers, their expertise varies greatly; they charge from $75 to $200 an hour for anything from crafting care plans and training home-care workers to attending doctors' appointments and managing a client's household -- and checkbook. The best, says longtime Washington, D.C.-based elder-law attorney Robert Bullock, orchestrate a team of experienced advocates from the financial, legal and medical fields. "You need someone who can go toe-to-toe with the doctors and facilities," he says.

And someone, say health pros, who won't take advantage of vulnerable clients. Critics say the bigger companies often send out a salesperson, not a care manager, to initially meet families at fraught moments, like when an elder family member is being discharged from a hospital. (Mike Nicholson, CEO of LivHome, says, "We provide a high-quality service, and we sell it.") And while experts say the vast majority of care managers operate ethically, there have been criminal abuses. Several cases in Florida garnered attention a few years ago, when managers used their access to clients' financial records to defraud them of thousands of dollars.

Experts suggest doing background checks and looking for managers with longstanding professional credentials. Certified members of the National Association of Professional Geriatric Care Managers, for example, must have a degree in social work, psychology, nursing or gerontology and follow a code of ethics that prohibits practices like taking fees from other service providers. "It's an accountable screening," says Cathy Cress, author of Care Managers: Working With the Aging Family.

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Suppliers of services to older adults have concerned past

2012-02-26T21:22:00.000-08:00

A former partner of Carson City with a turbulent past in the children and senior care industry is in the business in the area.

Mike and Norma Childers obtained a license in November to operate a home for individual residential care by the Division of health in Nevada, Office of health care quality & compliance. Childerses, operating as a sincere care LLC, will take in people at his home in Washoe Valley, according to the license application.

In 2006, Norma Childers not declared decision to a charge of disorderly conduct after he was jailed and accused of abuse for allegedly placing tape on the mouth of the children in their care in the sugar n' Spice nursery. She was forced the charges after a preliminary hearing, but the case was settled prior to trial.

As part of the agreement of plea submitted in December 2006, he was forced to undergo an assessment of the management of anger, to avoid allegations of violence and disorderly conduct and serve 100 hours of community service. A condition of "several" imposed her was "Don't work in a kindergarten," according to the court registry. Results of the assessment of the management of anger is not made public.

In 2000, standard and Mike Childers were acquitted by a jury of charges of abuse and neglect of felony in Nevada cares, a nursing home who possessed in Carson City.

That same year, they signed a clause with the State of California, which put an end to a trial jury that were charged with negligence in patients of elderly dependents.

The couple and their adult son signed the stipulation of California which claimed, among some 75 complaints has not able to provide appropriate care to their clients, trained personal employed low and do not report injuries and violations of personal rights of clients. The Childerses decided not to operate a facility in California for 10 years.

Norma Childers refused to comment on Tuesday, as did the counter Randy Kuckenmeister, who wrote a letter to judge Todd Russell claiming that he and the children of a woman of Carson City for 86 years of age which was appointed special master agreed Norma Childers to care for his mother in the mother's House.

The plan, according to a letter filed in that case may 2 by Kuckenmeister, was to ensure that Childers ensure "appropriate license" of the State in which it could bring two others "in the long term care beds" the home of the woman. In exchange for the trust of the women he would pay only utilities and insurance at home and for the purchase of the women, save the estate of $ 12,000 per month, according to Kuckenmeister. The State of that agreement was not immediately clear.

Mike Childers said Tuesday he and his wife does not think to have problems in their new effort of attention.

"Just because someone makes a complaint, do not stop." We would love to do it. My wife has always taken care of people, "he said."

He said that the charges of the Carson City case nursery arose from a disgruntled employee and a family.

And he pointed out that they were acquitted of any wrongdoing in the case of Nevada in 2000. He said that they signed the stipulation on the case of California only because they were concentrating on the fight against charges of Nevada.

"He left our license in California and sold our business", said.

Mike Childers said that he and his wife revealed her past to prospective clients and have dozens of people who support them.

"I can give references from people who swear by the care we took families for the mother of the Governor down," he said. "We did for 25 years." We have a complaint against us that we won here. We are not going to walk away from it. "It's a passion that we like to do and we will continue to do so".a

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Elder-care centres hurt resale flat prices: Agents

2012-02-25T06:14:00.000-08:00

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Some property agents and consultants said the value of a property located near any centre serving old folk, such as a day-care centre or hospice, can cause home prices to dip by as much as 20 per cent. -- ST PHOTO: JOYCE FANG

Elderly residents may appreciate having an elder-care centre in the neighbourhood, but property agents say these senior-friendly amenities can turn off some potential buyers.

Some property agents and consultants said the value of a property located near any centre serving old folk, such as a day-care centre or hospice, can cause home prices to dip by as much as 20 per cent.

Mr Eric Cheng, chief executive of ECG Property, said a majority of his home-buying clients offer between 3 per cent and 5 per cent less in cash over valuation for flats with elder-care centres nearby.

'Buyers will take advantage of the centre to negotiate with the seller, who will then lower the asking price,' he said. 'However, it does not affect the absolute value as much.'

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The greatest care workers with a last pictures to get a pass

2012-02-24T01:41:00.000-08:00

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After she was caught, Lisa M. Blair told police that her criminal behavior at a South St. Paul assisted-living facility "just got out of hand."

For months, the Cerenity Residence worker stole thousands of dollars from elderly residents who relied on her for day-to-day help, including paying their bills. At least two residents were bilked for nearly $63,000 in a scheme that ended when an 88-year-old raised suspicions in December about Blair, police records show.

State health investigators found no fault with Cerenity Residence for the breakdown, which lasted for more than 18 months. Blair pleaded guilty this month to four felony counts of financial exploitation of a vulnerable adult. "I maybe took advantage," she told police. "I knew it was the wrong thing to do."

The case is part of a broad problem of elder abuse in Minnesota that raises questions about the state's oversight of a rapidly growing industry.

In at least a handful of cases, state records show, breakdowns left vulnerable adults exposed to abuse. Either facilities missed warning signs or applicants with known criminal histories were approved to work because regulators granted exceptions to rules aimed at protecting vulnerable people.

Since 2005, state investigators have reviewed 171 cases of alleged financial abuse or exploitation in nursing homes, assisted-living facilities and in-home care settings. In 77 percent of those cases, investigators substantiated those charges, almost all of which involved staff members stealing from residents, according to a Star Tribune review of state investigative files.

Officials with the Minnesota Health Department declined to be interviewed for this story. The agency does not track the number of people who have been allowed to work in health care settings despite their criminal records, but in an e-mail officials estimated that the agency grants "very few" such variances each year.

Employing care workers with criminal histories or other problems is an outgrowth of a national shortage of people available to work in a field with low wages and demanding conditions, according to Deb Holtz, Minnesota's ombudsman for long-term care.

Holtz said the presence of background checks may give some clients a false sense of security, not knowing some offenses may be forgiven.

"The general public isn't aware of everything that goes into a background check," Holtz said. "The information should be public, and it should be easily accessible on all the state agency websites. There should be information given to consumers when they are considering employing people."

Nationally, seniors lost at least $2.9 billion in 2010 through financial abuse, with about one in six cases involving nursing homes, assisted living facilities or paid caregivers, according to a recent study by a research group affiliated with insurance giant MetLife.

"This has been happening a lot, and we probably haven't gotten a handle on it," said Sandra Timmermann, executive director of MetLife Mature Market Institute. "How do you get your arms around this hidden problem that is becoming more and more prevalent?"

Thief gets second chance

State law is designed to prevent people who commit significant crimes from working in nursing homes or other care settings. Health care workers undergo criminal background checks, but their new employers can ask the Health Department to overlook previous wrongdoing and allow them to work. There's nothing in the law that requires regulators or caregivers to disclose such variances, leaving seniors or their loved ones largely in the dark about who may be caring for them. The state Department of Human Services can also grant exceptions to individual workers.

Kilolo Claiborne had a well-worn criminal past when she went to work as a home health aide in Ramsey County. Claiborne was a suspect in separate incidents of theft, credit card fraud and providing false information to police, according to law enforcement records. In 2003, she was convicted of felony theft.

That didn't stop the state Health Department from granting a waiver in 2008 that allowed Claiborne to work with vulnerable adults. Less than a year later, she stole $1,575 from a terminal cancer patient who lived in a group home where she worked. She was convicted of felony theft in 2009.

"There is nothing in the law which prohibits granting a variance to a convicted felon," Health Department spokesman John Stieger said in a written response to questions about the case.

In Claiborne's case, the waiver came with conditions the facility was supposed to follow, such as not allowing Claiborne to work without a supervisor present or have access to client funds. However, the Health Department's investigation showed Claiborne was left alone for a period of time on the morning the theft occurred. State records do not show that the facility was disciplined.

In the case of Michelle Ann Jensen, the state flagged her criminal history in June 2009, shortly after she went to work at Whispering Pines Ranch in Austin. A previous felony conviction for prescription fraud disqualified her from direct contact with residents. She requested reconsideration and was supposed to be under continuous supervision until her appeal was resolved.

In August 2009, Jensen stole about $900 intended for the facility's locked cash box, which included residents' cash and rent payments, according to state records. In April 2010, she was convicted of misdemeanor theft.

Jensen blamed her problems on an addiction to prescription drugs. She said she wishes she'd never gotten the job at Whispering Pines.

"I take fault for my actions," said Jensen, adding that she regrets what she did and has been drug-free for nearly two years. "But they could have all prevented it if they would have followed state guidelines and not let me work alone."

A Health Department investigation did not cite the facility for failing to provide continuous supervision of Jensen. Regulators noted that Whispering Pines addressed the problem by requiring two workers to count cash at the beginning of each shift and log disbursements. The facility management did not return phone calls seeking comment.

Signs of past problems

Betty Frye was victimized twice.

In 2007, her bank discovered her checking account was overdrawn. In a period of two weeks, about $3,100 in fraudulent checks were written against her family's accounts. Investigators traced the fraud to a personal care assistant who came to Frye's south Minneapolis home to help the 88-year-old with her personal needs. The aide, who was not identified in police records, passed the checks to acquaintances who cashed them.

A nurse who worked with the woman had expressed concerns about the worker, according to Dennis Frye, Betty's son. "She was quite adamant about not wanting her to come here," Frye said. "Obviously there was something in her background."

The family also had problems with a previous aide who ran up long-distance charges by calling a dating service in California. "It's a betrayal," said Dennis Frye, whose mother has since died. "They are supposed to take care of you. When you have nurses, bath aides, other people coming and going in your home, you have to be careful."

Blair also figured in two different cases, according to police records. Blair was investigated in 2007 over a case involving her grandfather, who was a resident at Cerenity's facility in White Bear Lake. Blair told police she reimbursed her grandfather for his losses and no criminal charges were filed for the incident, police records show.

Cerenity officials said they had no reason to suspect Blair, the tenant services coordinator, was stealing from residents last year, according to Chuck Heidbrink, president of Cerenity Senior Care, which has five locations in Minnesota.

"The tenants loved her," Heidbrink said. "She was a tremendous employee. It was a shock to us and the tenants."

As a result of the Blair case, Cerenity began requiring the presence of two employees on any matters where clients need financial assistance.

Blair, who will be sentenced Sept. 12, did not return phone messages seeking comment.

State Health Department investigators failed to uncover the full scope of Blair's wrongdoing. The agency's report identified only one victim, but police investigators noted that Blair stole from two seniors at the South St. Paul facility. The first victim lost nearly $47,000, while a second victim lost about $16,000, police records show.

In each of the past four years, federal officials have faulted the Minnesota Health Department for failing to properly investigate complaints of abuse and neglect.

Health officials defend their investigation of Blair, saying its work was "adequate to substantiate financial exploitation" under Minnesota's Vulnerable Adults Act. "The finding would remain the same no matter how many victims there were," Health Department spokesman Stieger said. The department interviewed about a dozen staff members and residents. Said Stieger: "We do consider this a thorough investigation."

Brad Schrade ‧ 612-673-4777

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Calif. couple sentenced in Filipino smuggling case

2012-02-22T09:27:00.000-08:00

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Associated PressAssociated PressPosted:?02/14/2012 10:30:31 PM PSTFebruary 15, 2012 1:51 PM GMTUpdated:?02/15/2012 05:51:02 AM PST
LOS ANGELES -- A couple who smuggled immigrants from the Philippines to work as virtual slaves in an elder-care business were sentenced Monday to 18 months each in federal prison.

Maximino Morales, 46, and his wife, Melinda Morales, 48, also were ordered to pay $600,000 in restitution to nine people they smuggled into the country, according to a statement from the U.S. attorney's office.

"The Filipino victims in this case were lured to the United States with false promises and were essentially performing slave labor," U.S. Attorney Andre Birotte Jr. said in the statement.

The Paso Robles couple pleaded guilty in May to conspiracy to harbor illegal immigrants.

The Moraleses, who were born in the Philippines and are U.S. citizens, operated four elder-care facilities. They recruited Filipinos to work as live-in caregivers. Phony visas were arranged so they could come to the U.S., prosecutors said.

Once they arrived, some immigrants worked 24-hour shifts alone, according to plea agreements filed in the case.

They lived in the care facilities, some sleeping in a closet, on a sofa or in a walled-off portion of an unheated garage, according to the plea agreements.

Their pay was credited against their smuggling debts, and the workers were told that authorities would be called if they tried to leave, prosecutors said.

Authorities eventually were tipped off to the working and living conditions, and the FBI Advertisementarrested the couple in March 2010.

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Demand for Back-up Dependent Care Surges 33 Percent in 2011 As Families Struggle to Fill Gaps in Child Care and Elder ...

2012-02-21T17:35:00.000-08:00

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WATERTOWN, Mass., Jan. 26, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --?Working parents are experiencing breakdowns in their regular child care or elder care situations on a more frequent basis, prompting them to seek emergency back-up care at all-time high rates. Bright Horizons Family SolutionsR, the largest provider of employer-sponsored back-up care, saw a 33 percent jump in back-up care usage in 2011, providing emergency back-up care for families on more than 640,000 occasions.

(Logo:? http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20100818/NE52441LOGO)

"Today, many full-time employees are also responsible for the care of elderly parents and young children. This delicate balance between work and family life can easily come undone when regular care breaks down. Employers are fast recognizing this stress and are helping to alleviate it by offering a safety net – back-up care," said Bright Horizons Chief Executive Officer David Lissy.

"When a freak snowstorm hit the East Coast this past October knocking out power for several days, the value of these types of employee programs became quite real. We were very fortunate to have the ESPN KidsCenter and the Back-up Care Advantage ProgramR as options for employees during this difficult time. We were able to fill our professional obligations to each other -- and to sports fans nationwide -- because of the dedicated efforts of Bright Horizons," said Denise Leopoldino, Associate Director, Work-Life, ESPN, Inc.

"Offering back-up care sends a message to our employees that we are concerned in making sure they have a work-life balance, and that while we expect a lot, we're also willing to back that up by giving our team the resources to deliver on what we expect," said Marco Diaz, Vice President of Benefits at Thomson Reuters.

On any given day, more than 4.6 million workers at 700 companies across the country rely on Bright Horizons to take care of their family members when their regular care providers are sick, unavailable, or unable to provide care. In fact, 112 companies added this employee benefit through Bright Horizons in the past 12 months.

Families rely on back-up dependent care for a wide variety of reasons, including:

Their children's school is closed for vacation or weather-related reasonsTheir stay-at-home spouse has a conflict (such as a doctor's appointment, jury duty)They are in between care providersTheir regular care provider has the day offTheir aging parent has new care needs or their regular support is unavailable

Bright Horizons is a pioneer in the field of back-up care. For the past 25 years, Bright Horizons has been offering this service to employers across the country. Families can obtain care for infants, toddlers, preschoolers, school-aged children, as well as disabled, ill, or elderly adults.

According to a recent study released by The Consulting Practice at Bright Horizons (www.brighthorizons.com/lastingimpact): ?

86 percent of respondents reported that in the previous six months back-up care enabled them to work on a day they otherwise would not have been able to; on average, back-up care enabled them to work six days during that timeMore than 80 of Working Mother magazine's "Top 100 Companies for Working Mothers" offer either full-service child care or back-up careAbout Bright Horizons

Bright Horizons Family SolutionsR (www.brighthorizons.com) is the world's leading provider of employer-sponsored child care, early education, and work/life solutions. Bright HorizonsR serves more than 800 clients across the U.S., Europe, Canada, and India with programs including child care and early education, back-up care, elder care, college counseling, and work/life consulting. Bright Horizons was recently named for the 13th time as one of FORTUNE magazine's "100 Best Companies to Work for in America."

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More Self-neglect and abuse: "I don't care anything about going to the doctor, to be honest...." [Care of the...]

2012-02-20T15:32:00.000-08:00

Care of the Aging patient: evidence of actionJAMA. 2011; 306 (5): 532-540 doi: 10.1001/jama.2011.1085 Laura Mosqueda, MD; Dong XinQi, MD, MPH

Author Affiliations: Department of Family Medicine, School of Medicine, University of California, Irvine, Orange (Dr Mosqueda); Rush Institute for Healthy Aging, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois (Dr Dong). Elder mistreatment encompasses a range of behaviors including emotional, financial, physical, and sexual abuse, neglect by other individuals, and self-neglect. This article discusses the range of elder mistreatment in community-living older adults, associated factors, and consequences. Although self-neglect is not considered a type of abuse in many research definitions, it is the most commonly reported form of elder mistreatment and is associated with increased morbidity and mortality. The case on which this article is based describes a 70-year-old woman who neglects herself and dies despite multiple contacts with the medical community. Despite significant gaps in research, enough is known to guide clinical practice. This article presents the practical approaches a health care professional can take when a reasonable suspicion of elder mistreatment arises. Public health and interdisciplinary team approaches are needed to manage what is becoming an increasing problem as the number of older adults around the world increases.

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Disturbing report on elder care could make Liberals squirm

2012-02-19T09:19:00.000-08:00

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota

During a tour of the province in 2008, B.C. ombudsman Kim Carter encountered a frustrated, angry and often scared faction of the population: seniors living in residential care.

The shocking numbers of those appealing for her help prompted Ms. Carter to launch a fulsome investigation into the system that was spawning the complaints. On Tuesday, the most extensive – and disturbing – examination of the state of seniors’ care in the province landed in the B.C. Legislature with the kind of thud that often portends trouble for a sitting government.

Three years in the making and more than 400 pages in length, the report is an often uncomplimentary indictment of efforts by the Liberal government to address issues that have been known about and discussed for years. In fact, two years before Ms. Carter launched her probe, the government had received a similarly themed report from a blue-ribbon council on aging and seniors’ care that made several recommendations that the ombudsman would revisit in her review.

To that extent, it’s not that the ombudsman’s findings will strike a person as terribly revelatory, but they are certain to incite head-shaking among a citizenry that has heard the B.C. government say before that is addressing age-old problems among the province’s old agers.

For instance, there remains no minimum standard of care in many facilities, it seems. On that front, Ms. Carter’s report is loaded with anecdotal evidence: residential home beds soaked in urine; feces caked on bed railings; residents agreeing to go to bed at 4 o’clock in the afternoon because of a shortage of staff.

Clearly not enough is being done to crack down on homes that continue to offer what would charitably be described as sub-standard care.

Ms. Carter’s report includes 176 recommendations, many of which the government said on Tuesday it would be implementing. However, the ombudsman let it be known she was disappointed the government wasn’t going far enough with many of her suggestions.

Among the areas the government’s watchdog is demanding action on are:

-An internet venue from which seniors can navigate the home and community care system. Among the information that seniors should be able to access is space availability at residences around the province as well as important background information on the homes;

-Consistent reporting and tracking of elder abuse and neglect;

-The protection from retaliatory action for seniors who complain in good faith about the home and community care services they receive;

-Objective and enforceable standards of care for home support services. This would include legally binding minimum requirements for assisted-living residences on staffing, residents’ rights, food safety and nutrition, emergencies and record management;

-Ensuring equal treatment, benefits and protection of seniors in residential care by establishing one legislative framework that applies to all residential care facilities instead of the two that currently exist;

-Enhancing dementia and end-of-life care services in residential care;

-Helping seniors stay in their homes by assessing the adequacy of current support programs and analyzing the benefits and costs of expanding those services.

As we say, many of these recommendations have been made before, either formally or informally by people inside and outside the seniors’ health care system. And while the B.C. government should be applauded for many moves it has made over the years to help an increasingly vulnerable part of the population, it clearly has not done enough.

And it is not a good sign that the ombudsman, who gave her report to the government some time ago to consider, already seems discouraged by the Health Ministry’s response to many of her recommendations.

B.C. has 22,000 people in residential care. Ninety-five per cent are 65 years or older – 52 per cent are past the age of 85. The number in residential care is only going to increase as the baby boomers get older and require greater care.

“Our goal is for there to be consistent, province-wide standards and processes that treat seniors across B.C. in a fair and equitable manner,” Ms. Carter said in her report.

That doesn’t sound like too much to ask.

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Disturbing report on elder care could make the Liberals squirm

2012-02-17T21:45:00.001-08:00