In a new campaign launched Wednesday, the APTS is expressing its concerns about the care provided to seniors in Quebec, particularly inequalities in home support and the quality of residential services.
The Alliance du personnel professionnel et technique de la santé et des services sociaux (APTS) particularly wants to give a voice to seniors and their loved ones, hoping that decision-makers will listen to their stories. The union has created a space on its Facebook page to receive stories from people receiving care and services.
The campaign is titled “Regarder nos vieux jours en face: et si on osait pour vrai?” It aims to highlight significant shortcomings in both residential care and home support.
“We want to highlight the fact that you need financial means to live with greater dignity. Because we’re seeing private companies increasingly set up shop, with the associated bills.” And since not everyone has access to this, we’re creating a bit of a divide between the classes of seniors: those who have the means, those who don’t. This worries us,” says APTS President Robert Comeau.
“In my work, I see every day that we’re not equal when it comes to illness, unfortunately,” says Marc-André Paquette, an occupational therapist at a CLSC providing home support. “People with more financial resources manage much better at home than those with fewer because not everything is covered by public services for the things we might need when we lose our independence.”
He gives the example of incontinence briefs, the cost of which would be reimbursed for a patient in their fifties who has suffered a stroke, but not for a seventy-year-old with Alzheimer’s disease.
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Paquette is also concerned about a lack of funding in the Société d’habitation du Québec’s home adaptation program, which allows for the adaptation of housing so that people can remain there long-term. “I think that inevitably, in the coming years, we will have people with a significant loss of autonomy at home who will also have to stay in less suitable homes because the government will not refinance this program sufficiently,” he says.
The Wait for a Place in Housing
The APTS also denounces the “unbearable wait times” for access to a place in housing.
Paquette has witnessed several users who have properly completed their applications for a place adapted to their needs. “I see many who have already gone through the process. It’s recognized that they need a place in a residential facility, but it can take six months, a year, or two years for the space to be released,” he explains, fearing situations “where the person could suffer serious harm.”
Anika Doire is a special education technician in seniors’ homes and alternative housing. She points out that many seniors will spend time in several living environments before ending up in a residential facility. “Each time, a transfer to another setting can have a direct impact on the resident and also on their families. Sometimes, they arrive in residential facilities exhausted and no longer trust the healthcare system,” she says.
Doire adds that the material resources in residential facilities are often outdated. There is a need for more bariatric beds and better quality beds in general. “It would meet the needs of the resident, but also of the employees, because if we work with equipment adapted to their needs, it reduces the risk of injury for us, the employees. I would say that the employees are quite creative, but sometimes, unfortunately, we can’t always meet their needs. And it’s heartbreaking to say that to a resident or a family,” she says.
It’s fine, if we’re in good health.
The president of the APTS believes that Quebec is capable of keeping seniors in their homes as long as possible. However, there are times when residential care becomes the best environment for the person. “At that point, we need the necessary resources to do so, public resources. This doesn’t always involve seniors’ homes, but rather renovated CHSLDs where people’s privacy is respected, with private bathrooms and more adapted living environments. That’s all of this that needs to be rethought,” explains Comeau.
“These are people who are speechless, defenseless, and who take what they’re given. Honestly, when you go around the CHSLDs and residences, sometimes it’s a little embarrassing,” laments Comeau.
Doire asked her colleagues what their interpretation of aging in Quebec was. “If you’re in good health, overall, it’s fine, but as soon as you have issues, with the current context, it’s difficult for many people to access the resources they need,” she said, summarizing what emerged from her survey.
For his part, Paquette would like the public to take a greater interest in the political issues surrounding health care in Quebec.
“We don’t know the future, but there are many of us who will undoubtedly experience a loss of autonomy in our lives, who will need the system’s help to get through this or get through these situations. And right now, the network’s ability to meet the population’s needs is truly fragile,” he concluded.
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Health coverage by The Canadian Press is supported by a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. The Canadian Press is solely responsible for this journalistic content.
–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews
