People with disabilities lose hopes, skills in psych hospital, inquiry told

Leaving people with intellectual disabilities in a Halifax psychiatric hospital has created “an unnatural setting” where skills and hopes fade away as years go by, a behavioural therapist told a human rights inquiry Thursday.

Nicole Robinson, a behavioural therapist who works in an acute care unit of the Nova Scotia Hospital, testified that seven of nine patients she treats have been medically discharged but are in limbo because of the lack of supported housing in the community.

She said one of the men has been on the ward for about four decades.

The inquiry is examining a 2014 complaint by 46-year-old Beth MacLean and 45-year-old Joseph Delaney that the province has violated the Human Rights Act by failing to move them from a hospital-like setting into a community home.

“People are faced with a roadblock to go on to the next step. They’re kind of held there,” Robinson told the inquiry.

She then proceeded to give evidence that was a rare glimpse into a locked-door hospital setting that frustrates the efforts of highly trained staff.

She explained that applied behavioural analysis is used to reinforce positive habits and patterns that range from table manners to simple tasks such as washing your own hair.

However, Robinson said to make the skills stick, people with disabilities need to apply them in homes with roommates, a quiet atmosphere and trained staff they see regularly.

If that doesn’t happen, the work by the therapists often falls apart as the skill the person has learned atrophies and the patient reverts to a life of reliance on institutional staff and routines.

The constant refusals to provide a home also creates a depressing cycle for her clients, she said. She recalled meetings with Department of Community Services staff informing them the client was ready to leave and receive community-based care.

However, she said she would encounter an ever-changing set of criteria from the department.

“We continue to work on the goals they provide, we achieve them, they may come up with another set of goals, and then we continue this cycle,” she said.