B.C. seniors stuck in care, overmedicated
REPORT: ‘Need to think about whether the cure is worse than the disease’
Too many B.C. seniors are being incorrectly placed in understaffed care homes where they are over-prescribed antipsychotic drugs to make them passive, according to a “devastating” new report from B.C.’s seniors advocate.
Critics say the three systemic concerns outlined in the report — lack of home-care options for seniors, overuse of drugs in residential care, and lack of rehabilitative treatment in residential care — are interconnected and stem from leadership failures among B.C. politicians and health authority managers.
Seniors advocate Isobel Mackenzie said her report found that up to 15 per cent of B.C. seniors — or as many as 4,400 people — have been incorrectly placed in residential care, when it is known that living at home with proper support is often a more healthy way to age.
Mackenzie said her office needs to investigate why seniors who would be at home if they lived in Ontario or Alberta are prematurely placed in care facilities in B.C.
It’s possible that B.C. homecare options have been decreasing in recent years, she said.
Mackenzie also found that while only four per cent of residential care clients in B.C. have been diagnosed with psychiatric disorders, 33 per cent of residents are being prescribed antipsychotic medications.
Many of these seniors seem to be over prescribed drugs because they become agitated.
Mackenzie also found that antidepressants are being given to seniors in residential care at double the rate of actual diagnosed cases of depression.
Over-prescription of drugs for behaviour issues risks a number of side effects, the report says.
“I think we need to think about whether the cure is worse than the disease,” Mackenzie said in an interview. “The short story is that when someone is acting out, we are prescribing antipsychotics basically to make them passive.”
Mackenzie said lack of staffing and inadequate training are factors that cause over-prescription of drugs in B.C. senior care facilities.
Mackenzie also found that only 12 per cent of seniors in B.C. are receiving physiotherapy compared to 25 per cent in Alberta and 58 per cent in Ontario.
Rick Turner, co-chair of the B.C. Health Coalition, said he sees all three systemic issues in Mackenzie’s report as interconnected and solvable if B.C. would change its system to fund more home care, and spend the savings to fund adequate staffing levels in residential care.
According to the coalition, a home-care option costs about $40 per day to fund, while residential care costs from $150 to $200.
Many B.C. politicians recognize the need to alter the senior care system, Turner said, but “our suspicion is that people in various management positions in health authorities don’t want to see any dollars taken from their programs.”
NDP health critic Maurine Karagianis slammed the provincial government’s “leadership failure” for issues outlined in the report.
“One of the devastating warnings that has come out of this report is the issue of over-medication, and improper use of medication is a very significant concern,” Karagianis said.
Health Minister Terry Lake was not available for an interview.