Abuse in long term care – when will it end?

Meyer Sadoway, 84, on the floor, was attacked by another resident at his Toronto nursing home in 2013. (Security camera footage) reported by CBC news.

On Friday, February 1st, 2019, Marketplace featured an episode, ‘Crying out for care’, on long-term care homes.  Watch it here.

Here we are 6 years after the above photo was taken and very little has changed.  In fact, according to CBC Marketplace, the incidence of reported abuse between residents or by caregivers between 2011 and 2016 has more than doubled in long-term care facilities.  Even though the government has poured lots of dollars into a wide array of education programs for long-term care staff, facilities have spent money on re-designing dementia care units, and multi-sensory rooms and snoezelen carts are incorporated into daily care, the results have been minimal at best.  While education, re-designed environments and specific therapies can be helpful, they need to be delivered within a person-centred environment.

We need a complete culture change in our long-term care homes.  This will only come about if there is the political will to bring about this change and if we can learn from the positive experiences of places like Sherbrooke Village that are leading the way to make this culture change a reality.  Sherbrooke is a long-term care home that embraced such a culture change and was featured on the CBC news the same evening as the episode mentioned above appeared.   See it here.

So here is another plea to you to act now.  Contact your local councillor, contact your MPP,  write to your local newspaper, etc to bring culture change to your community and to a long-term care home near you!