A resident of a Halifax care facility died as a result of reportedly being pushed down stairs by another resident of the same facility.
The story is here:
This is not the first time a resident in a care facility in Nova Scotia has suffered physical abuse, beatings, etc. by co-residents.
It highlights one of the issues in long-term care. People with violent histories, some with criminal records, are mixed in with non-violent residents. Hopefully there aren’t enough of these violent residents to justify building a series of traditional homes for them. But perhaps this is enough of an impetus to consider alternative type of accommodations for residents with a history of violence. It would be helpful for caregivers to know if they are working with residents who can be violent.
If we can’t leave them to live alone or in a situation where they might cause harm to the general public, we shouldn’t put others, who by the age or infirmity, at further risk by mixing with violent types.
This also brings up another area of care where we need more thought. An RN told me the Evergreen Home for Special Care is the only facility in the province where severely disabled children are cared for. Evergreen has a dedicated wing for these children with access to the facility’s gardens and special programming for them. At least there is someplace in the province for children who need extraordinary levels of care. But if this is the only such facility it can be an additional travel burden on parents at a distance.
One more area where we have a care-gap concerns teenagers, young adults and middle-aged adults. Right now all we have is a one-facility serves all concept. Basically, we stick everyone in seniors’ residences. While the residents receive the physical care they need, these homes are not geared to or programmed to cater to people whose lives are still active or beginning.
I met one 50-year-old man who has spent 20 years in a nursing home. There is no going out for a beer with the guys, having a career or playing a few rounds of golf in the summer. Picture being a 23-year-old woman and living a quarter of your life in a nursing home? What is your future? Are you destined to become old at a young age so you fit in to the culture of the facility?
Requiring special care doesn’t mean you shouldn’t expect a life or can’t make a contribution to the community. And as British academic and scientist Stephen Hawking has shown us, in a technological age, if you can blink, you can have a career.
Vicky Levack is one such person who is speaking up and out for herself and others in need. She has launched a group called Independence Now Nova Scotia in a quest for age-appropriate housing for people in need. The province is working on a ten-year plan. But for someone like Vicky that’s almost half her life. Ten years is too long. Projects and programs get dropped, delayed or forgotten, like the 14 years Annapolis Valley District Health has spent talking about a hospice/palliative care facility. We are dealing with quality of life and the typical aspirations of people in the prime of their life. Why not become leaders in developing positive life accommodations for those who need specialized care? Who knows, if we create new models of accommodations, maybe we have a double win of helping people move from a warehousing situation to a productive life. We might even find the alternative level of care is cheaper than the traditional senior situation.
Learn about Vicky and her movement here:
http://independencenowns.wordpress.com
https://www.facebook.com/IndependenceNowNS
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