It appears that nursing homes get a bad wrap.
And yet......We have many privately run care-hospices in the Vancouver area and, although expensive, they appear to be well received.
Yes, we even have many well run senior homes in Canada under the healthcare services of Canada. Some are better run than others. The bigger ones with the health authorities are affiliated with a group of hospitals and the whole care of the seniors are more towards holistic now. A team consisting of hosp gerontologists, nurses, family doctors, physios, occupational therapists, recreational therapists, assistants trained in gerontology, pharmacists, message therapists, working together in such settings. These are called 'continuation care centers' which cost less than acute hospital care. Daily programs are catered to the seniors and their physical and mental needs. We have family conferences on a regular basis to hear opinions from the families, the "clients" themselves and the care team.
Canada health care costs alot and is protected by our constitution. But with the baby boomers on the rise I'm not sure how sustainable it will be in the next 10-20 years. When I was working in this area of rehab care, for the last 15 years we had to keep a very tight budget. Every time there's a downturn and the Provincial budget fell below the expectations, salaries of all the caregivers were cut or roll back as negotiated with the Unions and Prov health care.
The "client's" pensions, old age security and guaranteed income supplement checks all go into the facility she resides in (approx C$1K+ mthly differing in Provinces). The govt still has to subsidize each person as those checks are not sufficient to cover all the requirements. Any one who has resided legally in Canada for 10 yrs qualifies for the care.
People have asked me and I have thought about it, but the large investment is some thing to think about and many med practitioners are not exposed to such ideas yet esp here the med system has not developed a gerontology speciality as we have in Canada.
My parents are here and they hope there is such a facility. They've visited some and I have too, I can tell you they are so very depressing...at least by the standards I'm familiar with.
So for us who will eventually get to that stage where we'll need more care, it's some thing to think about. Stay here or vacate
