as it should be

Did you know about the Ontario government’ “75’% rule?” No? I didn’t think so. Apparently nursing homes are not permitted to change the diapers of their helpless and dependent residents until their diapers are three quarters full! That means that these elderly have to sit in their soiled diapers for hours if not for the entire day! The reason for the 75 per cent rule is that nursing homes aren’t provided with enough funding from Queen’s Park to care for the 75,000 or so elderly who reside in government run nursing homes. Recently, in a legal opinion, which was prepared by Toronto lawyers’ Mary Cornish and Jo-Anne Pickel for the Ontario Federation of Labour state that by “allowing elderly residents to live in diapers which are soaked in urine means The Ontario government is breaking its own laws. We do have laws under the Human Act that governs against the abuse of elderly and I believe that it is also stated in our Charter of Rights and Freedom. Wayne Samuelson who is the Federation president warned all major party leaders that unless whoever wins next week's election moves quickly to clean up the problem, the OFL will "pursue any and all legal recourse.” He went on to say,” It’s absolutely outrageous." And continued to express that,” People shouldn't have to end up in these situations. If these were kids in a child-care centre, there would be outrage." In the 29-page brief written by Cornish and Pickel they argue that most nursing homes in Ontario do “violate laws, regulations and binding contractual obligations that require long-term care institutions to keep patients "clean and dry" and are also required "promote their dignity and independence." Cornish and Pickel conclude the so-called 75 per cent rule is more of a violation because it ”contravenes the Ontario’s Human Rights code against discrimination on the basis of age, disability and sex (elderly women suffer from incontinence more than men). And, they believe, it may also violate the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.” “They also threaten that all nursing home administrators who insist that staff leave immobile residents festering in their own urine could also be charged with professional misconduct. “ When the Star asked Cornish about her report, she stated that “the government has set standards that the nursing homes aren’t following” and “the nursing homes can’t follow these standards because the government doesn’t give them enough money for supplies and staff.” This has being an ongoing problem. In 2003, the Liberals promised they would introduce a new minimum standard of care in nursing homes. George Smitherman who at the time was the newly appointed Health Minister said that when he learned about the deplorable conditions in which the residents were forced to live under, that he was overcome with such emotion that he actually broke into tears. Smitherman swore that he would revolutionize the care given to those residents who were in need of in long-term care. However, it seemed that Smitherman must have quickly forgotten about just how overwhelmed he was feeling when he first learned how deplorable the residents were being treated, for he never did anything to revolutionize the care, which he so vehemently promised. Instead, he only wrote new nursing home legislation and one of the things that were indicated was that the staff would be “limited from using any form of physical restraints on their residents. “What exactly does that mean? Does it imply that only one staff member could physically force the patient to do what he/she is told instead of two or lets say three? Once Simtherman made new changes to the legislation, the government also put forth a plan in which inspectors would make surprise visits to nursing homes. The government also hired 4,900 new employees in hopes that nursing homes would be better able to keep pace with the 5,000 new beds, which were also added to the nursing homes. However the nursing home operators complained that this was not enough to sufficiently deal with the enormous needs of the elderly who were extremely frail, and who also suffered from incontinence. Cornish told the Star "The government has set standards that the nursing homes aren't following,” She also mentioned that “nursing homes can't follow these standards because the government doesn't give them enough money for supplies and staff." What is so agonizing about the problem with nursing homes is that as far as we know this has been ongoing for more than a decade. And the government has only been giving Nursing homes $1.20 per to pay for diapers. If fact, when Mike Harris was the premier of Ontario, his members ” loosed rules” which governed the provinces nursing homes which ended up eliminating a regulation which required that staff members spend at least 2 hours and 25 minutes a day with each resident. And due to the shortage of funds, nursing home administrators had to do with less staffing, therefore residents had to sit in their soiled diapers for as long as possible. It has been reported that in some nursing homes that supervisors were so insanely adamant about sticking to the 75% rule that they actually took such extreme measures as to search in the home’s garbage for soiled diapers. They then collected and weighed the diapers just so that they could be certain that the staff had been following the 75 per cent rule! Nursing home staffs worry that their jobs may be at risk if they change diapers every time residents need clean ones. In another case, nursing home workers were rewarded with free pizzas if they could prove that they used fewer diapers. Try weighing the need for pizza against the need for clean diapers! Earlier this weak a health ministry spokesperson stated that “anything causing a nursing home resident discomfort is deemed unacceptable and that if patients (some of whom are suffering from dementia) or their families know of such treatment, they should complain.” It has also been noted that, “ families who complain on behalf of incontinent residents usually receive more diapers but that those who try to be agreeable get nothing.” I would suggest to those family members who have not complained that they might want to consider bringing extra diapers to the nursing homes so that the staff can have them for ready use. The question is, will the staff take the extra time to give their patients the personal care which they so well need and are deserving of? The New Democrats also seem to be concerned about the time staff members have to spend with the elderly patients and therefore suggested that nursing home residents should receive at the minimum 3.5 hours of personal care a day. This would definitely require hiring a lot more new staff. The Conservatives say they would provide all residents with ensuite bathrooms, but haven’t mentioned anything about staffing or about standards of care residents. And they most certainly did not even mention the word “diaper”. The idea of “ensuite bathrooms” is a good for patients who are mobile and alert enough to tend to there own needs. But for most of these patients who suffer from Alzheimer’s, the problem is that they cannot communicate to staff members what their needs are. Therefore I find it so very frustrating that so little time is spent with actual personal care. There have been many instances where patients were left alone in their beds and unattended for hours that on top of all their other health issues these poor patients also ended up they with bedsores. Imagine, if they were your parents or grandparents who were forced to live under such inhuman conditions, would you care to leave them in those despicable nursing homes?