{"id":13287,"date":"2020-06-25T22:48:52","date_gmt":"2020-06-26T02:48:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/?p=13287"},"modified":"2020-07-05T18:22:12","modified_gmt":"2020-07-05T22:22:12","slug":"younger-disabled-people-hurt-by-patchwork-system-of-long-term-care","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/younger-disabled-people-hurt-by-patchwork-system-of-long-term-care\/","title":{"rendered":"Younger disabled people hurt by \u2018patchwork system of long-term care\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

(June 24, 2020)<\/p>\n

By: John Loeppky, ricochet<\/p>\n

I think the solution is to get out. When the house is on fire, you get out the house, you don’t stay put.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s what Jonathan Marchand, a resident in a long-term care facility in Quebec, has to say when asked about the predicament facing people with disabilities in long-term care facilities across Canada.<\/p>\n

Upwards of 80 per cent of COVID-19 deaths in the country can be traced back to long-term care facilities, according to the\u00a0National Institute on Aging<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI haven\u2019t been supported… my request to be able to get out of the long-term care facility with the necessary support has gone unanswered by the government.\u201d<\/div>\n

A growing number of those living in these facilities are doing so for no other reason than a lack of community support for disabled people. A 2017\u00a0piece<\/a><\/span>\u00a0in the Toronto Star pointed out that thousands of younger disabled people in Ontario have ended up in seniors\u2019 homes because there\u2019s nowhere else to get long-term care. In places like Saskatchewan, rehabilitation hospitals are often the only places people with complex disabilities are able to live if they don\u2019t have other community support. One expert\u00a0characterized<\/a><\/span>\u00a0long-term care facilities as \u201cdumping grounds\u201d for individuals with disabilities.<\/p>\n

Marchand is one of those affected by the medicalized model of long-term care. He says he feels left behind by the government\u2019s response to COVID-19.<\/p>\n

\u201cI haven\u2019t been supported. I mean, my request to be able to get out of the long-term care facility with the necessary support has gone unanswered by the government,\u201d said Marchand, who is also president of Quebec\u2019s Coop ASSIST, an organization that supports independent living and social inclusion by helping members hire personal assistants. \u201cIt\u2019s senseless to me, their current way of doing things.\u201d<\/p>\n

Federal support needed<\/h3>\n

Amanda Vyce is a senior research analyst with the Canadian Union of Public Employees. The union, which represents thousands of healthcare workers across the country, has started a\u00a0campaign<\/a><\/span>\u00a0calling for national standards for long-term care.<\/p>\n

\u201cCurrently across Canada we have a patchwork system of long-term care because long-term care is currently not included in the Canada Health Act as a publicly insured core health service, which means that the provinces design their own legislation and regulation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSome provinces have no legislated minimum hours of care,\u201d says Vyce, pointing to B.C. as an example. \u201cAnd then other provinces, they do have legislated hours of care, and the hours range currently from 1.9 to 3.8 hours of care. But all those standards fall well below what\u2019s shown in the research as the minimum level that\u2019s required to maintain \u2026 if not improve the health status of residents.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s not enough workers. It\u2019s very, very difficult to work in a long-term care facility. And it\u2019s a dangerous job as well.\u201d<\/div>\n

Vyce says federal support is required to be able to increase staffing levels and ensure enough hours of care can be provided on a daily basis to residents. The campaign also calls for adequate and stable funding for long-term care, living wages and security for workers, and the removal of profit from the system.<\/p>\n

In Ontario \u201clong-term care workers have engaged in actions to draw attention to some of the very significant problems that the sector is facing \u2026 in relation to inadequate access to proper PPE or personal protective equipment, and also to draw attention to the staffing issues that are prevalent in homes that impact quality of care.\u201d<\/p>\n

Workers \u201cwant to improve their working conditions because they know that by improving their working conditions, they will simultaneously be able to improve the conditions of care for the residents for whom they care,\u201d says Vyce.<\/p>\n

Marchand says that he has personal experience with how difficult the labour situation can be.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn my facility, it\u2019s always been an issue. There\u2019s not enough workers. It\u2019s very, very difficult to work in a long-term care facility. And it\u2019s a dangerous job as well. You know, people get hurt all the time and the working conditions are not good. So, most people quit after maybe a year or two, not many people stay.\u201d<\/p>\n

Friction between employees and management is common, he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost people do that kind of job, they want to help another human being,\u201d he adds. But \u201cwhen you work in a long-term care facility, everything is timed, you need to do your job quickly. You don\u2019t even have time to talk to the residents.\u201d<\/p>\n

Further, he says, the way facilities are operated inhibits relationship building. \u201cYou can\u2019t make any kind of friendships with the residents or the patients, and it\u2019s carefully monitored. So, when people talk about creating a humane living environment in the long-term care facility, I think it\u2019s impossible with the [current] model.\u201d<\/p>\n

More privatization<\/h3>\n

COVID-19 has showcased the dismal state of many of Canada\u2019s long-term care homes. In Ontario and Quebec, the military stepped in to fill staffing gaps and reported cases of malnutrition and neglect. Discussions have emerged about moving long-term care under medicare and removing profit from the system.<\/p>\n

But in Ontario the Ford government is pushing forward with Bill 175, which critics say weakens public oversight while allowing for further privatization of a sector already under intense strain.<\/p>\n

\u201cCurrently, Ontario is in the midst of the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. The last thing that is needed in home care, community care and hospitals in Ontario is significant destabilization and more privatization,\u201d said the Ontario Health Coalition in a recent statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone\u2019s fighting for their own piece of the pie and largely people with disabilities and seniors are instrumentalized.\u201d<\/div>\n

\u201cGiven the terrible experience of COVID-19 in long-term care homes and other congregate care settings, and in the for-profit homes in particular, we cannot understand how the government could countenance the expansion of another tier of congregate care without any clarity about the purposes; total permissiveness regarding for-profit privatization; no regulatory, inspections and enforcement system; and no governance regime.\u201d<\/p>\n

Marchand says that the movement away from long-term care facilities requires government action that has not yet come. Much like CUPE believes that privatization is at the root of many of the issues in long-term care facilities, he says the community\u2019s concerns come down to intention and money.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone\u2019s fighting for their own piece of the pie and largely people with disabilities and seniors are instrumentalized. They use us for their own purpose,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen it\u2019s election time, they will give you some crumbs and they will pretend to care, but at the end of the day, do they deliver on their promises? Not really. So it\u2019s largely a game and we often have no voice in those exchanges.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone is making money off of us. We\u2019re very convenient to them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Click here for original article<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(June 24, 2020) By: John Loeppky, ricochet I think the solution is to get out. When the house is on fire, you get out the house, you don’t stay put.\u201d That\u2019s what Jonathan Marchand, a resident in a long-term care facility in Quebec, has to say when asked about the predicament facing people with disabilities […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13287","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ohc-in-the-news"],"yoast_head":"\nYounger disabled people hurt by \u2018patchwork system of long-term care\u2019 - Ontario Health Coalition<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"(June 24, 2020) By: John Loeppky, ricochet I think the solution is to get out. When the house is on fire, you get out the house, you don't stay put.\u201d\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/younger-disabled-people-hurt-by-patchwork-system-of-long-term-care\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Younger disabled people hurt by \u2018patchwork system of long-term care\u2019 - Ontario Health Coalition\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"(June 24, 2020) By: John Loeppky, ricochet I think the solution is to get out. When the house is on fire, you get out the house, you don't stay put.\u201d\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/younger-disabled-people-hurt-by-patchwork-system-of-long-term-care\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Ontario Health Coalition\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ontariohealth?fref=ts\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-06-26T02:48:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-07-05T22:22:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\\\/index.php\\\/younger-disabled-people-hurt-by-patchwork-system-of-long-term-care\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\\\/index.php\\\/younger-disabled-people-hurt-by-patchwork-system-of-long-term-care\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/3bee6583f445dde27b35a7bba61b06b4\"},\"headline\":\"Younger disabled people hurt by \u2018patchwork system of long-term care\u2019\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-06-26T02:48:52+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-07-05T22:22:12+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\\\/index.php\\\/younger-disabled-people-hurt-by-patchwork-system-of-long-term-care\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1162,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"OHC in the News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\\\/index.php\\\/younger-disabled-people-hurt-by-patchwork-system-of-long-term-care\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\\\/index.php\\\/younger-disabled-people-hurt-by-patchwork-system-of-long-term-care\\\/\",\"name\":\"Younger disabled people hurt by \u2018patchwork system of long-term care\u2019 - Ontario Health Coalition\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2020-06-26T02:48:52+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-07-05T22:22:12+00:00\",\"description\":\"(June 24, 2020) By: John Loeppky, ricochet I think the solution is to get out. When the house is on fire, you get out the house, you don't stay put.\u201d\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\\\/index.php\\\/younger-disabled-people-hurt-by-patchwork-system-of-long-term-care\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\\\/index.php\\\/younger-disabled-people-hurt-by-patchwork-system-of-long-term-care\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\\\/index.php\\\/younger-disabled-people-hurt-by-patchwork-system-of-long-term-care\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Younger disabled people hurt by \u2018patchwork system of long-term care\u2019\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\\\/\",\"name\":\"Ontario Health Coalition\",\"description\":\"Our primary goal is to protect and improve our public health care system\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Ontario Health Coalition\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/logo_ohc_new-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/logo_ohc_new-1.png\",\"width\":478,\"height\":240,\"caption\":\"Ontario Health Coalition\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/ontariohealth?fref=ts\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/OntarioHealthC\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/ontariohealthcoalition\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.tiktok.com\\\/@ontariohealthc\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/channel\\\/UCPy4Erf4xGLZV6CY23xdokw\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/3bee6583f445dde27b35a7bba61b06b4\",\"name\":\"admin\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Younger disabled people hurt by \u2018patchwork system of long-term care\u2019 - Ontario Health Coalition","description":"(June 24, 2020) By: John Loeppky, ricochet I think the solution is to get out. When the house is on fire, you get out the house, you don't stay put.\u201d","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/younger-disabled-people-hurt-by-patchwork-system-of-long-term-care\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Younger disabled people hurt by \u2018patchwork system of long-term care\u2019 - Ontario Health Coalition","og_description":"(June 24, 2020) By: John Loeppky, ricochet I think the solution is to get out. When the house is on fire, you get out the house, you don't stay put.\u201d","og_url":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/younger-disabled-people-hurt-by-patchwork-system-of-long-term-care\/","og_site_name":"Ontario Health Coalition","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ontariohealth?fref=ts","article_published_time":"2020-06-26T02:48:52+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-07-05T22:22:12+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/younger-disabled-people-hurt-by-patchwork-system-of-long-term-care\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/younger-disabled-people-hurt-by-patchwork-system-of-long-term-care\/"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/#\/schema\/person\/3bee6583f445dde27b35a7bba61b06b4"},"headline":"Younger disabled people hurt by \u2018patchwork system of long-term care\u2019","datePublished":"2020-06-26T02:48:52+00:00","dateModified":"2020-07-05T22:22:12+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/younger-disabled-people-hurt-by-patchwork-system-of-long-term-care\/"},"wordCount":1162,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/#organization"},"articleSection":["OHC in the News"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/younger-disabled-people-hurt-by-patchwork-system-of-long-term-care\/","url":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/younger-disabled-people-hurt-by-patchwork-system-of-long-term-care\/","name":"Younger disabled people hurt by \u2018patchwork system of long-term care\u2019 - Ontario Health Coalition","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/#website"},"datePublished":"2020-06-26T02:48:52+00:00","dateModified":"2020-07-05T22:22:12+00:00","description":"(June 24, 2020) By: John Loeppky, ricochet I think the solution is to get out. When the house is on fire, you get out the house, you don't stay put.\u201d","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/younger-disabled-people-hurt-by-patchwork-system-of-long-term-care\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/younger-disabled-people-hurt-by-patchwork-system-of-long-term-care\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/younger-disabled-people-hurt-by-patchwork-system-of-long-term-care\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Younger disabled people hurt by \u2018patchwork system of long-term care\u2019"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/","name":"Ontario Health Coalition","description":"Our primary goal is to protect and improve our public health care system","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/#organization","name":"Ontario Health Coalition","url":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/logo_ohc_new-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/logo_ohc_new-1.png","width":478,"height":240,"caption":"Ontario Health Coalition"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ontariohealth?fref=ts","https:\/\/x.com\/OntarioHealthC","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/ontariohealthcoalition","https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@ontariohealthc","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCPy4Erf4xGLZV6CY23xdokw"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/#\/schema\/person\/3bee6583f445dde27b35a7bba61b06b4","name":"admin"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13287","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13287"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13287\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13552,"href":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13287\/revisions\/13552"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13287"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13287"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13287"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}