Life & Style

Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

Aging shouldn't mean giving up choices

By: Carolin Vesely

Posted: 11/17/2009 1:00 AM | Comments: 0 (including replies)

When nursing homes became a formal part of the health-care system back in the '70s, they were private, unregulated facilities that provided little more than room and board, and some basic care, for the elderly.

Today they're called personal care homes (at least in Canada), and with societal values and government support moving away from the traditional institutional model and toward a community-based system, they're just one option on the long-term care landscape.

Related Items

Articles
- Shades of grey

And they should be the last option, says a leading expert on the subject.

"Are we right to depend on so many facilities like this one?" Rosalie Kane, professor of public health at the University of Minnesota, said during a public forum on patient safety last week at Deer Lodge Centre.

"How would you like it, living by someone else's routine?"

Kane, a Canadian, says that while long-term care is designed to help people who lack the capacity to function fully independently, it often comes at a great cost to the individual's dignity and quality of life.

"Don't confuse safety with administrative convenience," she told the forum, which drew about 75 people.

Lack of privacy, rigid routines, learned helplessness and programming that makes "everything for therapy, nothing for living" are just some of the shortcomings of institutionalized care, she says, that rob patients of personal choice.

And she advises aging baby boomers to think about what kind of care they want when they can no longer look after themselves. "Are you meant to have a choice, or is some professional going to be making a judgment?"

Kane, 69, says more creative approaches to providing long-term care (senior group homes, personal attendant services, etc.) are needed to help families and care providers balance safety and risk.

As the daughter of a 101-year-old father, who is blind and has kidney disease and a faulty gag reflex, but still lives in his Ottawa home with a live-in attendant -- and volunteers at a nursing home once a week and goes to karaoke with his girlfriend -- Kane tends to give extra weight to the latter.

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition November 17, 2009 D1

(You must be logged in to post your reaction)

Your reaction?

More Life & Style

Undock

You can comment on most stories on winnipegfreepress.com. You can also agree or disagree with other comments. All you need to do is register and/or login and you can join the conversation and give your feedback.

The Winnipeg Free Press does not necessarily endorse any of the views posted. By submitting your comment, you agree to our Terms and Conditions. These terms were revised effective April 16, 2010; View the changes. New to commenting? Check out our Frequently Asked Questions.