Care Homes

A NATIONAL BESTSELLER SHORTLISTED FOR THE BALSILLIE PRIZE FOR PUBLIC POLICY It took the coronavirus pandemic to open our eyes to the deplorable state of so many of the nation's long-term care homes: the inhumane conditions, overworked and underpaid staff, and lack of oversight. In this timely new book, esteemed health reporter André Picard reveals the full extent of the crisis in eldercare, and offers an urgently needed prescription to fix a broken system. When COVID-19 spread through seniors' residences across Canada, the impact was horrific. Along with widespread illness and a devastating death toll, the situation exposed a decades-old crisis: the shocking systemic neglect towards our elders. Called in to provide emergency care in some of the hardest-hit facilities in Ontario and Quebec, the military issued damning reports of what they encountered. And yet, the failings that were exposed--unappetizing meals, infrequent baths, overmedication, physical abuse and inadequate personal care--have persisted for years in these institutions. In Neglected No More, André Picard takes a hard look at how we came to embrace mass institutionalization, and lays out what can and must be done to improve the state of care for our elders, a highly vulnerable population with complex needs and little ability to advocate for themselves. Picard shows that the entire eldercare system--fragmented, underfunded and unsupported--is long overdue for a fundamental rethink. We need to find ways to ensure seniors can age gracefully in the community for longer, with supportive home care and respite for family caregivers, and ensure that long-term care homes are not warehouses of isolation and neglect. Our elders deserve nothing less.

As more people live longer, the need for quality long-term care for the elderly will increase dramatically. This volume examines the current system of nursing home regulations, and proposes an overhaul to better provide for those confined to such facilities. It determines the need for regulations, and concludes that the present regulatory system is inadequate, stating that what is needed is not more regulation, but better regulation. This long-anticipated study provides a wealth of useful background information, in-depth study, and discussion for nursing home administrators, students, and teachers in the health care field; professionals involved in caring for the elderly; and geriatric specialists.

Nursing homes are where some of the most vulnerable live and work. In too many homes, the conditions of work make it difficult to make care as good as it can be. For the last eight years an international team from Germany, Sweden, Norway, the UK, the US and Canada have been searching for promising practices that treat residents, families and staff with dignity and respect in ways that can also bring joy. While we did find ideas worth sharing, we also saw a disturbing trend toward privatization. Privatization is the process of moving away not only from public delivery and public payment for health services but also from a commitment to shared responsibility, democratic decision-making, and the idea that the public sector operates according to a logic of service to all. This book documents moves toward privatization in the six countries and their consequences for families, staff, residents, and, eventually, us all. None of the countries has escaped pressure from powerful forces in and outside government pushing for privatization in all its forms. However, the wide variations in the extent and nature of privatization indicate privatization is not inevitable and our research shows there are alternatives.

Outlines ways in which care homes can help families to become partners in the caring process.

Care home workers increasingly work with people nearing the end of their lives, including people with medically complex conditions. However, many do not have a medical background and find that practical advice on how to address these people's very specific needs is scarce. In this book, Christine Reddall draws on almost four decades of nursing experience to create a clear and easy-to-read handbook primarily for workers caring for the dying in care homes, but which will also be of interest to family members caring for relatives with life-threatening conditions.'This is a resource book to provide information on palliative care. It is designed primarily to help carers who work in care homes of all categories. To my knowledge, this is the first book written solely for carers working in care homes that addresses the issues of caring for someone with palliative care needs. However, people with whom I have spoken to about this book, or who have read parts of it, have all said that it would also be a helpful resource to non-professional family carers who care for a family member in their own home. The style of this book is designed to be readable by all levels of carers, and I have endeavoured to keep the language and text as 'non-medical' as possible. I have tried to put myself in the shoes of carers, especially those without medical training, and think of what they want to know when caring for someone with a life threatening illness' - Christine Reddall in her Preface.