by Chris Norman

Mother was in the hospital after falling and breaking her hip. A few months later, she is still confused and disoriented. Or perhaps Dad is losing weight and looking haggard as he copes with his wife’s deteriorating health. These are two common situations that lead Canadian families to the inescapable fact that it is time to choose a residential care home.

Finding a care home that best fits the elder is an important and usually stressful task for family members. For most people, care homes are completely unfamiliar territory. Ask friends and neighbours, physicians, social workers and others in the healthcare field for recommendations. Most homes have regular tours during the week that must be booked in advance. Review their websites and request written material to discuss with those involved in the decision-making process.

What are the priority considerations to ensure the elder’s safety and satisfaction with the home? What about the family members’ concerns to provide the best environment possible for their parent or spouse? Here are some features to discuss as a family and prioritize:

• Can cultural, language or religious needs be met?
• Is the facility secure? Is it equipped to deal with wandering patients?
• Is there an opportunity to access a private room if admitted to a shared room?
• How many hours of nursing care are provided each day? For example, in the Vancouver area, the average is 2.3 hours per day while in Ontario 3.2 hours are funded.
• Does the social/recreational program contain familiar and engaging activities throughout the day and evening?
• Is the home accredited by Accreditation Canada’s nation-wide standards of care and service?
• Is the atmosphere happy and homey?
• Are staff welcoming and helpful?
• Is the location of the home convenient for visiting friends and relatives?

No care facility will meet every family’s criteria, but the goal is to get the best match possible. Of course, the choice of care homes is very limited in smaller centres and rural areas.

In British Columbia and other jurisdictions, admission to a care home is on a “first available bed” system. If care is urgently required, the expectation is that the elder will be admitted to any bed that is open with the option to transfer to their preferred care home at a later time. Some care homes have “private pay” beds that allow the elder to be admitted to wait for a government funded bed to become available. Fees for private beds currently start at $5000. Keep in mind that admissions are handled differently depending on your health region and province.

Preparing an elder for a move to a care home depends greatly on their attitude toward the move. Some will merely need assurance that their favourite items will accompany them and friends will still visit, while those with advanced dementia may need a family member present to assure them that this is their room, and their new home. Whatever the approach, if it is done with the utmost care for the elder’s well-being and the knowledgeable assistance of the care home’s staff, it will be the best possible transition to their new home. For more information on home and community care services go to www.health.gov.bc.ca/library/publications/year/2007/Guide_to_Your_Care_Booklet2007_Final.pdf.

Chris Norman, Administrator, St. Jude’s Anglican Home

This article was published in the February 2009 issue of BarTalk. © 2009 The Canadian Bar Association. All rights reserved.