Advertisements for nursing homes often feature elderly couples relaxing in comfortable surroundings, playing board games, and enjoying meals with friends. They look great and look young for their age, with big smiles and perfect silver hair.
(Shutterstock)
These ads offer a safe, active retirement to the fullest, complete with delicious and nutritious food. It looks like a great lifestyle choice.
But is it really a lifestyle choice? Or is it being imposed on older people by fragmented and under-resourced primary and community care services?
Livelihood support
In Canada, retirement homes (also known as assisted living facilities) are increasingly being used as commercial living facilities for seniors. Provides a variety of services for which residents pay. all over Canada, Monthly rates range from $1,600 to over $6,000 for spaces between 300 and 600 square feet.
In Ontario, Nursing home costs average about $4,000 per monthmust provide at least two services, such as dietary and medication management, and additional services are often available for an additional fee.
(Shutterstock)
Some homes (for an additional fee) provide services for people with cognitive disabilities, and others provide nursing and personal care for people who need physical support. However, these private paid services are often not enough.
2017 Survey In the Hamilton-Niagara-Haldimand-Brant region of Ontario, researchers found that up to 40 per cent of nursing home residents receive publicly funded home care services in addition to services purchased from home. In nearly one-third of these cases, the nursing home resident or their caregiver is better off living elsewhere, such as in a long-term care (LTC) facility where nursing and personal support services are available to her 24 hours a day. is the answer. .
In Ontario, Most nursing homes are private facilities. It provides accommodation and some paid care services for frail elderly people, and these operate under less stringent national regulations. Ministry of Aging and Accessibility.
In contrast, nursing homes provide 24/7 care to more dependent individuals and are regulated and subsidized by the government. Ministry of Long Term Care. Nursing homes typically have private suites or apartments, but nursing homes have more institutional accommodations and less private accommodations.
Recent reviews of research Increasing opportunities for social interaction in nursing homes is an important consideration for some, and consistent anecdotal reports show that many residents experience improved health and well-being after entering a nursing home. It suggests that you did.
However, the main drivers of migration are concerns about age-related decline in health and uncertainty about the availability of services such as property maintenance, medication, and personal care in their current residence.
unmet medical needs
Images about are still limited What happens when you move into a nursing home?. In contrast to the long-term care sector, which has a relatively rich source of information at the national level, there is little information on nursing home residents.
(Shutterstock)
What we do know paints a complicated picture. For example, a nursing home resident living with dementia who can afford specialized memory care services may Less likely to move to a nursing home. On the other hand, nursing home residents Far fewer primary care visits more likely to be visited than people in long-term care homes. emergency department, Hospitalized and experienced long-term hospitalization.
Clearly, the service and medical needs of nursing home residents are unmet, and these needs are also unmet in the community, which is why they are forced into nursing homes in the first place.
In Canada, a lack of resources in the home and community care sectors limits where seniors with declining health can live, but many living in large cities can avoid the high costs of private home care. More options are available to those who can pay.canada spending Per capita costs for home and community care are significantly lower than the OECD average.
Despite evidence that the medical needs of nursing home residents are becoming increasingly complex, the role of primary care medical providers is to: not regulated, there’s also not much motivation to practice in these settings.This is what a nursing home looks like primary care desertresidents often do not have meaningful access to their previous primary care provider due to limited transportation to off-site clinics.
Read more: Preventing delirium not only protects older adults in the hospital, but could also reduce overcrowding and emergency room backlogs
Because nursing home residents lack access to coordinated, age-friendly primary care, they are more likely to be hospitalized and experience accelerated functional and cognitive decline. Relying on limited access to community-based primary care clinics is insufficient because outside primary care providers often do not have visibility into the nursing home environment or staff.
If there is no one on site to conduct a sufficiently thorough medical fall risk assessment, common problems such as falls can go unaddressed. Dehydration-related delirium (confusion) should be manageable on scene, but may instead lead to hospitalization or premature institutional care.
Designed with consideration for installation in facilities
our medical system Seems designed to encourage premature institutionalization. The nursing home sector is attempting to fill gaps in care and services in the community, but its ability to do so is gradually diminishing as residents’ care needs become more complex and exceed out-of-pocket costs. Masu.
(Shutterstock)
This solution requires publicly funded and integrated home and community services. Be accessible to seniors regardless of where they choose to liveWhether it’s a nursing home or a private home where you’ve lived for years.
Particular attention is needed for community-dwelling older adults with cognitive impairment, many of whom may continue to age with minimal assistance with nutrition, medication management, and monitoring of chronic conditions.
Interprofessional primary care (a team that includes multiple health professionals such as doctors, nurses, dietitians, and social workers) Our ability to support older people with complex health issues will increase further.. Such a team must be available to prevent hospitalization and its often disabling consequences.
Providing on-site access to primary care in nursing homes provides all Canadians with reasonable access to insured health care services, as many residents have limited mobility for office visits. It simply fulfills the Canada Health Act’s promise to provide .
By increasing home care and improving access to comprehensive primary care services, we can better meet the needs of our community’s older adults, optimize their health and independence, and save significant costs. strain our hospitals and caregivers. It will also allow seniors to choose their preferred lifestyle and have more leeway.
