Institutional care has proven to be anything but caring

Re Province told to act fast on LTC homes, Oct. 7 The Star again is to be commended for its continued focus on one of the worst stories in this country’s history of care for vulnerable citizens.

In his story, Rob Ferguson highlights the patient ombudsman’s findings. Cathy Fooks, a long-time health-care advocate, like others, notes a litany of abuse, neglect, errors and the most shocking treatment of residents in longterm-care facilities.

Fooks makes the points we have all heard, but ignores the necessary conclusion.

Institutions do not and cannot work in the field of care and support for citizens who need assistance. Institutions are a failed and broken model. While you may be able to tidy them up, paint the walls, install air conditioners, develop better paperwork procedures and systems, this model for care always fails.

As a society, we painfully learned this lesson about institutional care through the experience of Indigenous youth in residential schools, children in orphanages, people with mentalheath difficulties in asylums, children in “homes” for special care, people who have a developmental disability in the large congregate care facilities scattered around Ontario.

We learned that institutions and good care and support are incompatible. Why do we persist? The last two groups in society to experience institutional life are our seniors and prisoners.

Stop using the institutional model and develop alternatives. We know how to do this. Douglas J Cartan, Mallorytown, Ont.