Quebec government has recently decided to send older hospital patients home rather than having them wait in the hospital while waiting for a nursing bed. This decision is nothing short of elder abuse. Most of these older patients suffer from dementia and/or other complex health issues. The government will fine hospitals $984.00 a day for non-compliance with this new directive. To be clear, hospitals can be terrible places for persons with dementia, such as Alzheimers disease. Hospitals do not have the resources or properly professionally trained staff to care for them. However, to send such people home when care resources at home are inadequate and informal caregivers are burnt out or are unavailable is NOT a solution. Although still a negative choice, it is better to have people with dementia remain in a hospital setting rather than living in isolation, neglected with no or inadequate care or supervision. Also to consider, many people with dementia do not have any family or friends to advocate on their behalf. People with dementia need a wide variety of services, from home care to nursing home care. Their family caregivers are often exhausted and most demonstrate depressive symptoms and suffer other psychological and physical health care costs due to the cumulative effects of caring over time. These often translate into added costs to our already overburdened health care system. Those with dementia in the middle and advanced course of disease, require round the clock monitoring and care. In such circumstances and when informal caregivers are unavailable or can no longer meet the heavy demands of care, the governments response is, as it has been for too many years, no response to the need for nursing home beds. The serious condition of most older frail persons in hospitals languishing for nursing home beds is a reality the government prefers to ignore. Instead, it promotes a pseudo-reality that most people will be cared for well at home, no matter what the circumstance. The government has promised money for home care, but not only is this money inadequate to meet the needs of many people with dementia, it is also inadequate to meet the needs of the Quebec population, overall. Pétition: Hospitalisation des aînés et délai exigé pour leur retour à domicile https://assnat.qc.ca/fr/exprimez-votre-opinion/petition/Petition-4415/index.html
Posted on: Tue, 12 Nov 2013 14:50:22 +0000
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