By Rebecca Rioux
Guest opinion
On May 24, 2018 the province released its action plan for seniors titled: Promoting Wellness, Promoting Health. The plan lays out four key pillars with 38 action items.
There are two key takeaways for me regarding this plan: 1) According to the province’s own data 25 per cent of the provincial population will be over 65 by 2025. 2) None of the 38 action items addresses my current situation.
In August 2016 my father was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and I have been his primary care giver to date. He was offered a bed in a long-term care facility; however, I removed him after only 10 days. The facility did little to keep him stimulated (activities were only available three days a week) and being in a lockdown ward only heightened his anxiety of confinement. Under provincial guidelines he is considered a Level 4 but because he can still physically care for himself (shower, shave, dress, etc) he does not qualify for home care services under the current criteria. The action items fail to address this issue.
I currently am paying for 30 hours of private caregiver services, which entail taking my father to town to socialize, shop and run errands, where he interacts with numerous people. He even has a daily walk through a large department store because even he realizes exercise is important. The costs are rapidly rising as I’m averaging $750 weekly. The action items do not clearly address what happens when a senior loses their driver’s licence and needs help to continue to be active and social.
If my father had remained in the long-term facility, his bed would have been subsidized by $700 a month as he has no other income other than OAS and CPP much like 80 per cent of Island seniors. Yet I do not qualify for this subsidy to offset the private care I am paying for. The action items offer no hope in this area either, and in fact families will continue to be the frontline supports for their aging parents/partners.
According to Alzheimer’s Canada 25,000 people are diagnosed with this disease yearly and almost a million will be diagnosed by 2031. Dementia care is very different from nursing care and nursing care is different from community care and so on; however, all three have a similar approach in a long-term care facility. The action items do little to address the diverse needs required to tackle the senior tsunami approaching our health-care system. The current model does little to address this and the suggestion that more private beds will tackle the need is folly at best. More of the same is not a solution. Every senior is unique and so too are their care needs.
I continue to reach out to government for solutions to my situation with little response. Much like this action plan, words are just words without real action behind them. If government cannot help me in my time of need; how can they truly hope to address the future needs of Island seniors? I cannot thank the people who encounter and engage my dad on a daily basis. They are the true frontline workers where this disease is concerned. What makes them special is that they see my dad for who he is not for the disease he has. I can only hope over time the province will see my dad as a person and not just another stat on a page.
Rebecca Rioux is the primary caregiver for her father, who has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. She lives in Wheatley River.
