Rethinking Senior Care

..it’s time all levels of government make seniors a priority

We can’t keep sending older adults to regular hospitals. A busy hospital ward is not the place to be as we age. We understand that children need specialized health professionals caring for them and it’s time we recognize that seniors need specialized care too.

Many people I know have had an elderly parent end up in an acute care hospital. Perhaps they broke a hip, became aggressive because of dementia or exhibited signs of a stroke. For the most part it is a nightmare. It’s not because medical staff are incompetent. They know exactly what to do, it’s just that as we age we need a different type care.

Most studies I read say that elderly patients need patience. That cannot happen in a regular acute care hospital ward. There is just too much going on.

In Alberta we have hospitals filled with elderly patients waiting to be transferred to a care facility. This does not make sense as we need those acute care beds for people waiting for such things as heart, hip or gall bladder surgery. Doesn’t it make sense to have one hospital dedicated to caring for the elderly?

Care homes are not the answer as most are not equipped to handle needs that can only be met in a hospital setting.

The staff in a specialized hospital for the elderly would have training and be comfortable working with this unique group. For instance they would understand how communicating with families is important, know ways to calm those suffering from dementia or Alzheimers and be comfortable talking about end of life care.

In 2021 it is sited that we had 7 million people aged 65 and older which is 1 in 5 Canadians. That is up 16.9 percent since 2016. This is a significant group and we know it is growing.

At the present time in the Canadian Government we have Minister of Labour and Seniors – which portfolio would you guess gets top priority?. In Alberta we have a Minister of Seniors, Community and Social Services. When you read the mandate letters of these ministers the jobs are overwhelming.

It seems to me with such a large proportion of the population now considered seniors, both the federal and provincial governments need to dedicate one cabinet position solely for seniors.

This person needs to rethink how resources are used to serve the unique needs of this growing population.

I don’t think we need more money, what we do need is a sensible and thoughtful approach to what is a growing and scary situation. There are hundreds of studies paid for by taxpayer dollars that are sitting on a shelf gathering dust that need to be used. No more studies, what we need is action!

In fact I think with informed decisions the governments could save money. Right now no level of government appears to be making seniors a priorty. It’s time they did!

Seniors have not been a vocal group. Let’s let all levels of government know that we are a significant group who are contributing in many ways. We need to make our government officials understand that senior care is a priority.