Seniors’ advocate takes message to Confederation Building

Group on government’s radar, took part in scheduled meeting with MHA Paul Lane

Sharon Goulding-collins was upset by her mother’s experiences in long-term care and formed the Facebook group Advocates for Senior Citizens’ Rights, offering a place for sharing stories of disappointment, while calling for improvements to care standards.

On Wednesday, she was in St. John’s pushing that call, in a meeting with Independent MHA Paul Lane. She was joined by a handful of supporters, including other members of the group — people also not happy with the status quo.

Goulding-collins said Lane was the first member of the House of Assembly to set a meeting.

“The problem is there needs to be more like him,” she said in a brief interview by phone with The Telegram after the meeting.

She said the result was generally positive, with Lane offering information and advice on petitioning the government.

Goulding-collins has previously relayed her own story to The Beacon. She said her mother was being given one bath a week before she was able to arrange for at least two, with sponge baths administered the rest of the week.

She also spoke about what she sees as a need for more staff at care homes, including staff specifically to monitor patients with advanced Alzheimer’s and dementia.

“It’s not just in our area, it’s all over the province,” Goulding-collins said, referring generally to stories of negative experiences with the system she has been told since coming forward as a grassroots advocate.

The Facebook group’s concerns span a series of topics: personal security for seniors in care, hygiene, mobility and consideration of personal dignity, to name a few.

Suggestions on specific changes for the system have been offered in a roughly four-page document, provided to the government, ultimately calling for new laws on seniors’ care.

Lane told The Telegram he was happy to meet with the group and said he was concerned by some of the issues conveyed. He said he would be willing to present a related petition if needed.

“I think that the things they are looking for are very reasonable,” he said.

At the same time, legislation for all of the points raised is another matter to be considered.

“I think it can be achieved without setting it in stone,” Lane said, adding he is interested in further review.

A statement issued by Central Health on May 10 disputed “the content and accuracy” of some (unspecified) comments on posts to the Advocates for Senior Citizens’ Rights Facebook page. The statement highlighted positive results from resident and family surveys, and offered specific words of support for frontline staff.

Goulding-collins told The Telegram she supports care staff, and appreciates their work, but she’d like to see more of them. She’d also like new, province-wide standards for in-facility care.

A spokeswoman for the province’s Department of Health and Community Services provided The Telegram with a response it said was provided to Goulding-collins in March, in response to a submission to the department. The statement notes long-term care homes are guided by the Provincial Longterm Care Home Operational Standards, available online.

“These standards are under review by a provincial working group led by the department, with representatives from all four regional health authorities,” the department has stated.

“The process to inform development of new standards includes a review of policies and procedures in other jurisdictions. A set of revised standards are anticipated to be completed in 2018. Meanwhile, the department will be considering the need for legislation as part of our review process, though there are no immediate plans to implement new legislation in this sector at this time.”

The health authorities are mandated to licence and monitor personal care homes — locations where care is provided for remuneration to five or more adults — to ensure they comply with the Health and Community Services Act, Personal Care Home Regulations (as established under the act) and any policies, standards and guidelines adopted by the minister, including the Provincial Long-term Care Home Operational Standards.

According to the Health Department, direct nursing care time for long-term care residents in the province — including time with registered nurses, licensed practical nurses and personal care attendants — averages 3.4 hours a day, “similar to staffing ratios in other long-term care homes in Canada.”

In considering things like dictating a specific number of times residents would be bathed in a week, the department notes residents are currently subject to individualized care plans.

“The skilled and competent staff working in long-term care homes work within clinical guidelines and professional practice frameworks,” the department stated.