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Moderator @picardonhealth opens the town hall saying we saw a "disaster" in long-term care this spring, and it& #39;s repeating itself in the second wave of the pandemic.
Front-line nurse @imsimplysharon talks about the scene right now in the hospitals. Patients in hallways, some workers having to isolate from their families to keep them safe.
. @DrSamirSinha says many residents are taking it in stride, saying "I& #39;ve lived through a lot before." At the same time, some are frustrated they can& #39;t see their families because of lockdown restrictions.
Pat Armstrong of @YorkULAPS reminds us of the gendered aspect of long-term care: LTC is mostly care "for women, by women."
. @DrSamirSinha says LTC staff are often low-income themselves and have crowded living situations. This ties into community spread.
Pat Armstrong shares a mantra from the field: "The conditions of work are the conditions of care." This includes making sure there are full-time jobs available, with job security, decent wages and benefits. She says we need national and province-wide strategies to address this.
. @DrSamirSinha holds Denmark as an example for Canada. Spends 2x as much as Canada on LTC, and sets aside 2/3 of that money for at-home care rather than institutions.
@imsimplysharon recaps @RNAO& #39;s policy requests, including more staffing, dedicated infection control staff, and basic care guarantee in LTC homes, including minimum 4 hours care/nursing a day.
. @DrSamirSinha notes that Ontario govt did commit to 4-hour minimum but has not yet budgeted for it.
Pat Armstrong has researched all major models of LTC in multiple countries. She says there isn& #39;t one standout but good models share some things, including more staff and more comfortable physical environments.
Pat Armstrong says, "We need standards, not standardization." We can& #39;t expect LTC in downtown Toronto to look the same as rural or remote communities in Canada.
. @DrSamirSinha says money isn& #39;t the barrier to providing better LTC across Canada. Instead, a system that is fragmented across many jurisdictions makes it difficult to coordinate.
Panelists share policy priorities. @imsimplysharon says more staffing, which frontline workers have been calling for for years. She& #39;s frustrated that they& #39;re not being listened to.
Pat Armstrong says we need to make both LTC homes and aging at home better for people. She notes that "home" is not always a good place for people to be.
. @DrSamirSinha We spend billions of dollars keeping people in hospital beds while they& #39;re waiting for LTC beds to be available - that could be better used.
We& #39;re wrapping up with summaries of break-out room discussions. Conversations included topics like training, staffing, facility design, private-sector homes, etc.
Thank you to all our panelists and participants today, and to our partners at @RyersonNIA. For those who couldn& #39;t join us, we will be sharing the video recording later this week. Stay tuned!
