I doubt that growing old has ever been much fun.
But the latest report on seniors� care in B.C. � and the government�s reaction to it � should alarm people looking into residential care for themselves or a family member.
Maybe my generation, the Baby Boom crowd, expects too much.
But it�s hard to escape the sense that once you can�t make it in your own home these days, you diminish. You become more problem than person.
Consider a basic challenge � finding and then living in residential care when you no longer live on our own.
Ombudsperson Kim Carter heard more and more complaints and concerns about seniors� care in B.C. The office launched a provincewide investigation and delivered its first report just before Christmas.
It was grim. And the government�s response was discouraging.
Carter found the government hasn�t identified what it is prepared to do for seniors in residential care or told residents what rights they have.
It has failed to ensure families can get adequate information about residential care facilities, so they can plan and make informed decisions.
And although resident and family councils are important in ensuring the well-being of people in care, the government hasn�t supported them.
Carter said the public response to the investigation was �unparalled� in the history of the ombudsperson�s office. (That�s the official name now.)
About 900 people presented concerns; 200 individual complaint files were opened. The investigators went to 50 residential care and assisted living facilities, public and private, around the province.
The complaints covered a range of issues, from poor food to long waits for help with basic tasks like going to the bathroom to medication errors to neglect of residents� needs. Many will be dealt with in a subsequent report.
A lot of the concerns centered around the huge difficulty in figuring out what care is available, what it costs and what�s covered.
Families and individuals looking for care want to make the best decisions. But there is now way to get useful information on the private and public care facilities available in different communities without visiting each one. Responsibility for residential care is split between two ministries � the Health Ministry and the Ministry of Healthy Living and Sport � and the health authorities.
Families reported being panicked by the challenge of making snap decisions critical to a senior�s future with no real useful information. Standards are unclear and information about past problems sketchy.
Once seniors have landed in a home, it�s unclear to them and their families what rights they have or what they should do if they believe care is substandard. They�re reluctant to raise concerns, in case that brings reprisals.
And there is no effective process that lets the government monitor legitimate complaints and ensure they are being addressed.
Carter�s first report made 10 recommendations, all common sense and none obviously expensive.
The government committed to acting on four of the 10. It had already passed legislation on a residents� bill of rights, one of the recommendations.
But on six of the 10 recommendations, including some of the most critical, Carter found the government�s proposed efforts �fall short of what is needed� to remedy the problems her office had identified.
The government wouldn�t commit to monitoring and reporting on whether residents� rights were respected by operators.
It waffled on the recommendation that single website that allowed people to get the basic facts on every care facility � the costs, the services, the standards of care � be in place by Sept. 30.
And the government wouldn�t commit to prompt action to set out a clear role for resident and family councils.
The outpouring of concern to the ombudsperson�s review indicates significant concerns. The challenges are certain to increase with each year � by 2038, the number of people 80 or older in B.C. will have more than doubled, to 460,000.
And not enough is being done to face the challenges.
Footnote: The report is available online at ombudsman.bc.ca. Expect to hear a great deal about the findings and the fee increases for three-quarters of those in residential care when the legislature finally resumes regular sittings in March, after a three-month break.
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