Overhaul senior care

Re: Senior care facilities require change

While I agree with almost every point made by Susan Dennison, I do have a different take on having the three levels of senior care in the same facility.

My parents first moved to an independent-living centre 10 years ago, and while there was assisted-living accommodation in another wing of the building, there was no long-term or extended care available. My parents’ level of need accelerated rather quickly and we were obliged to move them to a different centre when they needed to go directly from assisted living to long-term care.

We dealt with many of the systemic shortcomings that are now being brought to light, but a major drawback of moving to a new address was the loss of the social connections, both with caregivers and other residents, that they had developed over nearly a decade in their independent-living home.

Some issues of isolation and loneliness could be relieved if all three levels of care were available in the same facility. My parents would have loved to have remained in contact with caregivers and neighbours they had become friends with. Instead, they suddenly found themselves in the midst of strangers, having to adapt to new surroundings and unfamiliar names and faces during their difficult final year. Ms. Dennison points out several differences in the type of care needed at each level. I don’t think they are mutually exclusive if new care homes are designed and managed with continuity of care in mind.

Kevin Dale McKeown, Vancouver