Then versus Now: The Changing Landscape of Long Term Care

by Bob Montgomery

Huron County's Homes for the Aged Director says long term facilities are being faced with problems they haven't had to deal with in the past.

Connie Townsend says what they're seeing now is residents coming into long term homes with multiple chronic health conditions that they haven't had to deal with before. The province is putting pressure on the long term care homes to provide services that they haven't provided in the past. Townsend says they need more education, training and partnerships with community groups in order for them to provide the treatment that's required.

Part of the new reality is driven by the fact that people want to stay in their own home for as long as possible before they have to go to a long term care home, and the province is encouraging that. Townsend points out that it is understandable that people would want to stay in their own home as long possible. But, she says that means by the time they get to a long term care home they need a lot more care and the homes are struggling to provide that.

The long term care homes are going to have to find a way to provide the services that are required, but Townsend says they're going to need partnerships with the community to do that. She adds, staffing in long term care homes was a challenge even before COVID and it continues to be a problem now. PSWs are just getting burned out after working long hours through very stressful situations and they want to cut back or in some cases, retire.

Townsend says there are also more opportunities for PSW's now. They’re in hospitals now, and places where they never used to be so, she says, a lot of healthcare organizations are pulling from one small pool of staff. She also has some concerns about the province's commitment to four hours of care a day in long term care homes and how they're going to be able to deliver that without adequate staffing.