Elderly Abandoned; Hospitals left to find care when family falters
By Tom Blackwell, National Post
May 14, 2010
Some come with notes pinned to their clothes or tucked inside pockets. Often, they are unable to explain who they are or where they came from.
Across Canada, hospitals have encountered a rare but troubling phenomenon: elderly patients abandoned by relatives or others in crowded emergency wards, with or without an acute medical problem, geriatric experts say.
"There probably isn't an emergency department in the province or in the country or anywhere really that hasn't seen this happen," said Dr. David Ryan of the Regional Geriatric Program of Toronto.
"Sometimes it comes from that whole issue of elder abuse.... Sometimes, less often, it's people who are misusing the system. There are stories that we hear from time to time about somebody who is dropped off with information on how to reach the family, but the family is gone and they've gone on vacation."
The practice, nicknamed "granny dumping," is an extreme example of the wider issue of senior citizens arriving at emergency simply because they or harried family members do not know where else to turn, say nurses and doctors. The problem is unlikely to go away as a growing number of Canadians enter old age, they suggest.
Ontario, like some other provinces, has implemented programs to ensure those older people end up where they will get the best care. Some health-care professionals complain, however, that there is a shortage of services to help people overwhelmed with the burden of caring for ailing older people, often incapacitated by Alzheimer's disease or some other form of dementia.
"We all deplore the act of what they're doing," said Teri Hay, executive director of the Ontario Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse. "[But] in some cases, family members are desperate. You could be caring for your parent, who might be cognitively impaired, at the same time you are working and raising your own family. To say the least you are tired and exhausted."
Like other experts, Ms. Hay said dumping is an uncommon, yet undeniable phenomenon.
She recounted two cases in Toronto hospitals in the past year, where seniors were found in emergency waiting rooms bearing notes that included their names, but no telephone number or other contact information. They were unable themselves to explain their history, Ms. Hay said.
Abridged
SOURCE: The National Post
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