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Giant rocking chair brings attention to longterm care issues

June 29, 2016   ·   0 Comments

Members of the Ontario Health Coalition (OHC) advocate for residents and workers in long term care facilities by demanding that a minimum standard of care be set by the province. They are asking for a minimum of four hours a day  of hands-on care per day, per resident. Pictured, from left: Tom Carrothers of the Advocacy Group for Family Counselling, Don Arkell OHC volunteer, Natalie Mehra OHC Executive Director, Ainslie Shoul (seated, Mehra’s niece), Peter Boyle OHC volunteer.
By Wendy Gabrek
A giant wooden rocking chair was brought to Alliston June 17 in an effort to bring awareness to long-term care issues facing seniors.
The Alliston stop was just one of 19 across the province, branded with the message “It’s Time to Care.”
The media event, orchestrated by the  Ontario Health Coalition (OHC), a group comprised of seniors, family council members, union and care workers, long term care residents and concerned citizen, was a effort to bring awareness to the lack of standard of care facing seniors in long term care facilities.
“Even daycare centres and schools have standards of care,” said OHC volunteer Tom Carrothers, referring to maximum enrollment. “This is an invisible issue – unless you actually go into a nursing home. We’re here to make the issue visible.”
The group’s objective is to put pressure on local MPPs, including Jim Wilson in Simcoe-Grey, to ensure every senior is getting at least four hours of hands-on care each day.
The rocking chair, created by a theatre prop company, is the symbol for seniors, said OHC volunteer, Peter Boyle.
The chair’s tour started at the Quebec border, and landed in Alliston after three previous stops. It then headed to King City and Caledon.
“The care levels in Ontario’s long term care homes are inadequate,” confirmed Natalie Mehra, Executive Director at OHC. “More than 18,500 hospital beds have been closed since 1990 and patients are moved out of hospitals ever quicker and sicker. Access to care is poor with long-waits and increasingly severe rationing of access to care.”
Mehra went on to say that there have been approximately 20,000 people on wait lists for long-term care home spaces for more than a decade.
“Almost two-thirds of long-term care residents have dementia and almost half have aggressive behaviours,” she said. “Since 2001, more than 24 long-term care residents in Ontario have died as a result of violence from other residents and thousands have been attacked by other residents.”
Mehra was quick to identify the issues, but she also came with solutions.
“The Ontario provincial government must set a minimum care standard of 4 hours of hands-on care per day per resident and improve access to care and reduce wait times,” she said.
“The coalition will be collecting 20,000 signatures on postcards as they travel with the chair to symbolize the approximately 20,000 people waiting for long-term care placements,” added Mehra.
The cards, addressed to Premier Kathleen Wynne, read: “… To provide enough care to meet residents’ needs and to keep residents and care workers safe, your government must set a minimum care standard of 4-hours of hands on care per day. It’s time to care”.
These postcards can be found at: www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca

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