It's time to re-evaluate how we care for elders
Tom Carney, Special To North Shore News
Published: Sunday, July 13, 2008
It's been almost a year since we learned about the abuse of seniors at the Beacon Hill Villa, a Victoria care home for fragile seniors.
Health inspection reports cited more than a dozen abuse and neglect cases in the past five years at the Beacon Hill Villa.
Media coverage of those problems drew more complaints about other care homes, prompting the opposition to call for an independent review of all seniors care facilities in BC. That didn't happen and the issue seemed to fade away.
That all changed last month when the Vancouver Sun got a hold of the inspection reports on seniors facilities for Fraser Health and Vancouver Coastal since 2003. According to those records a total of 23,632 serious incidents have occurred at long term facilities in the region during that time. Reports from Cedarview Lodge, Lynn Valley Lodge, Sunrise of Lynn Valley, Capilano Care Centre, Hollyburn House and the Inglewood Care Centre are featured in the Sun story. All six North Shore care facilities are rated as low risk but readers may be surprised at the number of incidents recorded at those sites. You can access this information yourself at http://www.vancouversun.com/care.
Our record of caring for vulnerable people in institutions in this country is appalling -- so much so that I believe we need to change the model for providing care to those who need our help. We know that one in eight seniors is abused and a new study from Simon Fraser University confirms that the abuse of seniors in institutions is systemic and national in scope.
© North Shore News 2008
Abridged
SOURCE: NorthShore News
--------------------------------------------------------
More Recent Posts from Spotlight on Elder Abuse
No comments:
Post a Comment