"Long Term Care Insurance can cover the costs of Assisted Living, Homecare or a Nursing Home; plan for the future"
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Archive for the ‘Care Giving Strategies’ Category
Tuesday, October 6th, 2009
Long Term Care Commentary — Alberta
Not very many people are happy with Alberta Health Minister Ron Liepert and Premier Ed Stelmach. Together, the two have concocted a plan to cut more than 200 acute mental care beds in hospitals and other institutions. Some of these beds are currently home to mental health patients, while others provide long term care to seniors with dementia, such as those living with Alzheimer’s disease.
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Tags: aging trends, Elder Care, elder care Calgary, long term care, long term care Alberta, long term care Calgary, planning for long term care
Posted in Care Giving Strategies, Elder Care, Long Term Care | No Comments »
Tuesday, October 6th, 2009
Caregiver Issues: Elder Care and the Workplace
As Canadians age, more and more work-aged adults are finding themselves juggling their work obligations with family obligations related to caring for elderly relatives and loved ones. Eighty percent of the elder care in Canada is provided by family members, and about 60% of caregivers are women – women who often have children of their own still living at home, and are balancing motherhood with careers and caring for an older parent, parent-in-law, or other elderly relative. How are businesses responding to the new family obligations affecting their workforce? Here’s a look at how the balance between elder care and work is unfolding in Canada.
Canadian Aging Research Network (CARNET) (more…)
Tags: aging trends, Alberta, Caregiver Support Calgary, caregiving, caregiving strategies, Elder Care, long term care, long term care Calgary, planning for long term care
Posted in Alzheimer's Care, Care Costs, Care Giving Strategies, Elder Care, Long Term Care, Long Term Care Insurance | 3 Comments »
Monday, September 28th, 2009
When it comes to elder care in Canada, Newfoundland is one of the more difficult places to be. A nurse from a long term care facility in St. John’s, NL, pointed out in an interview with People’s Response that her own nursing home has had to hire home health care workers rather than LPNs (certified nurses) because graduates of nursing school in Newfoundland tend to move to richer provinces in Canada. Just shifting the wages up to make them on par with the rest of Canada, begs the nurse, would help her own facility to find qualified personnel and keep them.
The Quality of Health Care and Elder Care in Rural Newfoundland
Meanwhile, CBC News reports that the Society of Rural Physicians in Newfoundland and Labrador has criticized the governments there for cutting medical services in small communities. The physicians claim these health cuts could cost lives.
As usual, those most vulnerable to these sorts of cuts are the elderly. By moving x-ray equipment out of small towns, doctors trying to care for elders will waste precious time trying to access diagnostic equipment. So far, x-ray departments have been closed in Lewisporte and Flower’s Cove; more closures are anticipated, including in Springdale. Not only have the x-ray departments been closed, the clinic hours have also been cut from 24 hours per day to 12 hours per day – another move that residents worry could endanger care for their elders.
Health Minister Paul Oram advised residents to put the cuts into perspective; the spending cuts to x-ray departments and clinics should help the government invest more in long term care facilities for the elderly, such as the one the nurse in St. John’s complained about being under-resourced and under-staffed. Oram hopes that the cuts will ultimately finances the creation of a long term care facility for the elderly in Lewisporte.
To critics, Oram has answered, “People would like to have every service in their backyard. Everybody would like a hospital in their home town.” But he advises the residents of Newfoundland and Labrador to try to be more realistic about their expectations: “there’s only so much money to go around,” Oram said.
The Future of Elder Care in Newfoundland and Labrador
Given the cuts in health care spending in Newfoundland and Labrador, as well as the comments made by the nursing home nurse from St. John’s, retirees might think twice about retiring in Newfoundland and Labrador. As part of their planning for their golden years, those nearing retirement age and their families should carefully consider the type of health care services available to them within their communities. Where health care is not adequate to meet the long term care needs of seniors and elders, Canadians might consider retiring elsewhere.
Tags: aging trends, caregiving strategies, Elder Care, elder care Newfoundland and Labrador, long term care, planning for long term care
Posted in Care Costs, Care Giving Strategies, Elder Care, Long Term Care | No Comments »
Monday, September 28th, 2009
Right now, 4 million Canadians are over the age of 65. By 2026, that number will double to 8 million Canadians. The aging population will doubtless take a costly economic toll on individuals, families, and the nation as a whole. Exactly what costs are associated with getting older in Canada, and what should aging baby boomers do to slow that cost?
Plan Ahead
The retirement years are another phase of life, just like entering university or taking that first step into one’s career. And just like entering the job market for the first time required preparation and planning well in advance, our senior years also require good advanced planning. Planning out the costs of your retirement should start five or even ten years in advance.
As a rule of thumb, expect to need about 70% of your pre-retirement income in your retirement years. In New Brunswick, one senior offers the advice to try to live on that 70% of your income now, before you are retired, just to get a feeling for what it will be like to live without that extra 30%.
Going into retirement debt-free is also a very good idea. This may require some creative living in the years before retirement, as those in their forties and fifties may need to downsize in order to achieve the goal of being debt-free by 65.
Canada Pension and Old Age Security
At the age of 65, Canadians can receive a maximum of $844.58 per month from the Canada Pension (CPP). You can access your CPP before the age of 65, but you should be aware that it is taxable.
Old Age Security (OAS) also activates at 65. The standard Old Age pension is $484.63, but low-income pensioners can also apply to receive additional help.
Economic Help for Seniors in British Columbia
Each province also has its own programs to help seniors afford to enjoy a high standard of living even as their yearly income decreases. In British Columbia, these include:
- Shelter Aid for Elderly Renters (SAFER) helps low to moderate income seniors continue to afford their rent.
Sales Tax Credit, which seniors can apply for to save money each year on their taxes.
The CareCard for Seniors entitles seniors to save on prescriptions and other medical expenses.
Anyone who receives Income Assistance in BC, including seniors who receive the Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS), are eligible to receive a bus pass that costs only $45 for the entire year.
Thanks to programs like this in British Columbia and throughout Canada, seniors can retire with a measure of confidence that they will be able to afford those “golden years”.
Tags: aging trends, care costs British Columbia, care costs New brunswick, caregiving, caregiving strategies, Elder Care, long term care
Posted in Care Costs, Care Giving Strategies, Elder Care, Long Term Care | No Comments »
Monday, September 28th, 2009
There has been much talk in the United States, Mexico, and Canada about the swine flu – this year’s virulent flu strain that has already caused deaths throughout North America. Expected to become a pandemic, nations from China to Canada have been stocking up on this year’s flu vaccine.
Doctors warn that those most at risk are the very young and the very old. What does this mean for elders living in long term care facilities in Canada? With many fragile elders living in one place, nursing homes and other long term care facilities can easily turn into a hotbed of flu development.
In Toronto, concerns over a recent unpublished paper have health officials scratching their heads over the best way to care for those seniors living in long term care facilities. The paper suggested that the regular, seasonal flu shot may actually increase the risk of catching the swine flu.
In the Toronto area, people over the age of 65 have thus far been spared from swine flu, but historically they are much more at risk and face more serious consequences from run-of-the-mill seasonal flus. For this reason, says Dr. Arlene King, who is the chief medical officer of health in Ontario, seniors will be the only ones to receive the seasonal flu shots until November. This includes seniors living in long term care facilities in Toronto and elsewhere in Ontario.
Infection Control and Prevention
The Public Health Agency of Canada produced a fact sheet late in the summer of 2009 to stop the spread of swine flu and other flu strains in long term care facilities in Canada. The stated goal of the agency is to “keep the [long term care] facility (or major areas of the facility) completely free of the influenza virus in the first place.”
To this end, the agency has recommended certain measures to prevent the spread of the disease in long term care facilities. Some of these measures include:
- Source control: Preventing visits from relatives or friends who show symptoms of flu and using partitions to create distance between residents.
- Screening for flu: Actively screening family members and other visitors for the disease if swine flu has become prevalent in a community; encouraging staff members to self-screen for flu symptoms; and increased screening of residents for any flu-like symptoms.
- Hand and respiratory hygiene: Encouraging visitors, staff members, and residents to practice common sense hand washing and cough covering.
- Isolating sick residents: Should any resident show flu symptoms, they are immediately confined to his/her bed or room, and for residents who share a room, privacy curtains will be drawn and a minimum of two metres will be kept between the sick resident and the healthy roommate.
Thanks to these proactive steps being taken in Ontario and by the Public Health Agency of Canada, preventing a major flu outbreak inside long term care facilities this winter should be avoidable.
Tags: long term care Toronto Ontario, Swine Flu Ontario
Posted in Care Giving Strategies, Elder Care, Long Term Care | No Comments »
Monday, September 28th, 2009
Alzheimer’s Care in Nova Scotia
Helena “Heli” Munroe earned her Ph.D. in cognitive psychology, with her specialty in Alzheimer’s disease. But this didn’t protect Dr. Munroe from succumbing to Alzheimer’s herself. Originally from the UK, Heli Munroe and her husband Alasdair lived in Nova Scotia. As her descent into Alzheimer’s began, the two lived near Fisherman’s Memorial Hospital, where she received most of her therapy.
But in 2005, something quite unusual happened. Dr. Munroe was taken by her brother to England, because he claimed that she was very unhappy in Nova Scotia. Her husband was shocked by his brother-in-law’s action, and accused him of kidnapping his wife. Mr. Munroe was even more shocked when he realized he did not have legal guardianship over the woman whose rapid cognitive decline was made it impossible to make clear her own wishes about where she wanted to live and with whom.
While for Mr. Munroe the action was kidnapping, for Heli’s family it was rescuing. The family accused Alasdair Munroe of domestic abuse, which he vehemently denied. Some nurses who worked with Heli Munroe did suggest that Mr. Munroe’s behavior was sometimes concerning, and even more concerning was the couple’s estranged son living in a remote area of British Columbia, who claimed he had seen his father choking his mother before. But friends of the family – including Heli Munroe’s doctors – supported Munroe’s rebuttal of the accusations.
Meanwhile, Heli Munroe could not speak for herself.
Finally, in the fall of 2009, Heli Munroe’s ashes returned to her husband in Nova Scotia. Over the summer, Dr. Heli Munroe had slipped into a coma and died of Alzheimer’s. Just as he had fought for the return of his wife, he also fought to have her ashes returned. This battle, he won. But it is a bittersweet victory.
Who Can Make Decisions About Alzheimer’s Care?
The family feud over Heli Munroe underscored a need for clearer laws regarding care for those with Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia, both in Nova Scotia and throughout Canada. Specifically, does the spouse or the family speak for the individual with Alzheimer’s by default?
For more information regarding care for elders with Alzheimer’s in Nova Scotia, a good place to start is the Alzheimer Society of Nova Scotia. An advocacy and support group for people with Alzheimer’s and their family, their website makes it easy to find resources on the latest research on Alzheimer’s disease, as well as links to services for people living with Alzheimer’s in Nova Scotia.
Tags: Alzheimer's Care Nova Scotia, caregiving strategies, long term care
Posted in Alzheimer's Care, Care Giving Strategies, Elder Care, Long Term Care | 2 Comments »
Monday, September 28th, 2009
Long Term Care: Not Just for Seniors
Long term care in Canada and long term care facilities are not just for seniors and the elderly; long term care facilities also care for those disabled individuals who are too impaired to live at home without constant medical attention. But the aging population of Canada means that there are increasingly fewer beds available in long term care facilities in Canada, and for disabled Canadians, the problem is becoming ever more apparent.
Take Ian Bazay, for example. In 2003, Bazay, a Prince George, BC, resident, was diagnosed with MS (multiple sclerosis). MS is a devastating degenerative neurological disease that gradually takes away the ability to physically (and sometimes cognitively) function.
Bazay checked himself into a hospital because he couldn’t care for himself any longer. He was informed he would probably be placed into a long term care facility, so he sold all his furniture and left his rented home. But instead of being sent to a long term care facility, the hospital was going to release Bazay to a men’s homeless shelter. Bazay, who was once robbed by three teens on the street who flipped him out of his wheelchair to rifle through his pockets, refused to go to the homeless shelter. Only after the Prince George Free Press ran a story about Bazay’s situation did the hospital acquiesce and allow him to remain. Bazay’s plight highlights the need for more long term care options for the disabled.
Mentally Disabled Adults in Long Term Care Facilities
While some disabilities increase over time as the body ages, such as Ian Bazay’s MS, adults with mental disabilities often find themselves in long term care facilities when a parent or guardian dies or is no longer able to care for them.
Ranging from mental handicaps to mental illnesses, patients requiring acute long term care living in group homes notoriously suffer from abuse, both at the hands of unscrupulous staff members as well as other patients. In Nova Scotia alone, nearly fifty cases of abuse were reported between 2007 and 2009. And because there are not always enough facilities to keep them separate, adults with mental handicaps such as Down Syndrome may find themselves sharing the same living facility as those with schizophrenia or severe behavioural conditions. Such an environment makes abuse all the more likely.
A Safe Place for the Disabled
Just as Canadians are now exploring alternatives to nursing homes for seniors, they should also consider safe alternatives for disabled adults. No one should have to go through what Ian Bazay has gone through, and no one with mental handicaps should be placed somewhere where their physical and emotional safety is compromised. Safe, affordable long term care ought to be available to all Canadians.
Tags: long term care Prince George British Columbia
Posted in Care Giving Strategies, Long Term Care | No Comments »
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