‘We would feel… more worthy of living’

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This article was published 11/05/2023 (850 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Winnipeg couple who relies on home care is raising concerns about the sporadic visits they’ve had over the past two years.

Ron Schepp, 83, and Mae Schepp, 79, began receiving home care during the pandemic and are signed up to receive a 15-minute visit six days a week. But in early May, three consecutive days passed without any visits, and so far this week, they’ve missed two visits.

Mae uses a wheelchair and Ron has rheumatoid arthritis. They’ve been married 58 years, and they’ve reached a point where they need help on a regular basis, Ron said — help they can count on.

“And right now, we can’t,” he said.

If no one shows up for a scheduled visit, it’s up to Ron to get Mae out of bed. It’s not an easy task because of the severe arthritis in his knees. He’ll then have to try to “chase” home care by phoning the case co-ordinator.

The home-care workers who do show up have been great, he said, but he’s noticed they consistently run behind schedule, or are hampered by traffic delays that cut into their next appointment, which may be a considerable distance away in what he says is “disorganized” scheduling.

They’ll get Mae out of bed and to the bathroom to wash and use the toilet, get her a change of clothes, monitor her taking her medication, and transfer her to her living room chair. Those tasks can often take more than 15 minutes, Ron said, adding consistent service “would certainly lift our spirits.”

“You know, we would feel that we’re more worthy of living,” he said.

“If we had a decent home-care schedule set up, we don’t have to chase them, we don’t have to phone our supervisor, the agent that is looking after us… there are times we phone her in a desperate way and she’s not in, and she won’t be in for one or two or three days. So, the whole system is just chaotic.”

Staff shortages have long been blamed for gaps in home-care visits, and the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority said it is trying to fill vacancies.

After the Free Press reached out to WRHA about the Schepps’ case, a manager phoned them, promised better service and asked for Ron’s advice on how to make improvements, he said.

In a statement, a WRHA spokesperson said the “vast majority” of home-care visits proceed as scheduled, but cancellations are sometimes inevitable because of things such as staff illness or weather delays, and they understand the frustration for clients and their families.

Since January, 70 certified home-care attendants have been hired, and 30 uncertified attendants have gone through training and been hired by the WRHA. Another group of 14 uncertified workers started this week, the spokesperson said.

“Efforts are underway to review Home Care scheduling practices with the goal to allow for more flexibility for clients and staff. Retroactive pay for salary increases has been completed, as well as the implementation of paid breaks,” the statement reads, in part.

“Leadership is also reviewing and analyzing numerous areas of service delivery and developing methods to enable long-term and sustainable quality improvements to Home Care service delivery. Our goal is to ensure we are providing robust, safe, high-quality Home Care services to support clients who are able to remain at home for as long as possible.”

Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 204 president Debbie Boissonneault said the union had been pushing for implementation of recently agreed-upon measures, including paid coffee breaks and retroactive pay premiums for eligible home-care workers under the latest contract ratified last September. The paid breaks were implemented in early March and some of the pay increases won’t be implemented until late May, she said. The union is still in talks with the employer over pension, benefits and sick time.

The issue of scheduling has been brought up in labour management meetings, Boissonneault said, particularly because a 15-minute visit includes the worker’s travel time. While workers now receive paid breaks, they still have to fit in the same number of daily appointments, she said.

“Home-care workers want to be able to do a good job. They want to be able to find time that is not rushed for the elderly. And sometimes these are the only people the elderly see, so cutting time from the elderly to implement things is not the right way to go,” she said. There’s a need for more home-care workers so clients have consistency, “and not doing these one-offs because somebody has to run… would really help the elderly stay in their community longer.”

katie.may@winnipegfreepress.com