A proposed refreshing reform for national standards

As Moira Welsh notes in her article, ‘Draft report on national long-term-care standards could shape Canadian legislation, which appeared in The Toronto Star on January 27^th, 2022:  ‘The draft report on national long-term-care standards says residents must be free to engage in activities they enjoy and live in homes designed to feel quiet and safe.’

Sherbrooke Village in Saskatoon where the Eden Alternative has been implemented

“These standards can be so much more than just the basis of accreditation programs,” said Sinha, director of geriatrics at Sinai Health and University Health Network.

Laura Tamblyn Watts, CEO of CanAge, a seniors advocacy group, said the report is a “significant improvement from the previous version and shines a light of hope on a sector which has long been shunted into the dark corners of policy.” “It signals an important shift in culture that has been long needed.” Click here to read more……

Hopefully the Ontario government won’t hide behind the argument of health care being a provincial jurisdiction and forego stepping up to the plate and providing leadership to endorse and make the draft national standards a reality of Ontario’s long-term care homes.  The complacency in the long-term care home sector accompanied by the shockingly long absence of providing our seniors with the kind of improvements proposed in the draft national standards cannot be remedied quickly enough.  An emotion-based model of care needs to be the foundation of an improved long-term care homes system and we need it NOW.

In the upcoming provincial election make it your business to find out how the candidates in your riding intend to implement the spirit and focus of the proposed national standards in Ontario’s long-term care home system.