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BCS and VIHA ARE Slowly Killing My Mother

  • Posted on November 27, 2010 at 1:53 pm
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This entry is part 14 of 24 in the series Quality of Life

Strong words, and I stand by them 100%

Mom has Congestive Heart Failure, it seems, and one of the main contributing factors to a worsening condition, is undu STRESS & WORRY.

The INABILITY of BCS to properly administer it’s operation, by insuring that it keeps to it’s schedule of workers, leads DIRECTLY to unnecessary stress to my mother, who is 93 years old.   Each and every day, and night, Mom asks me..   who is coming tomorrow?  

The schedule will say either Tracy or Yvette, right up until I last check it at night (usually around 8pm to 10pm) and will further check throughout the entire day.  In addition, when I wake up, even before that first cup of coffee, I am accessing the online schedule at BCS, to see WHO is scheduled.

Nine out of  Ten times, the schedule will continue to show the regular worker, until around 8:30am, when it magically becomes either  UNFILLED or ALTERED.

This isn’t every day, sometimes no more than once per schedule, but never on any consistent day.  In other words, it can happen on a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, etc.  or for multiple days.

There are times when the schedule will change after 8pm or even in mid afternoon.  It has no rhyme or reason to it, it simply gets changed.   I mean what, a scheduled worker suddenly gets sick at 3pm, or at 8pm?  (when next I see the worker, it turns out they weren’t sick, 99% of the time)

This PLAYING with the schedule, leads to a constant state of uncertainty & distress for both of us, Mother & myself.  I needlessly spend time checking the schedule, when I should be doing other things, like trying to earn a living or doing dishes, laundry, or even just having a moment’s peace. 

Changes result in disruption of routine, such as breakfast.  Like today, the scheduled worker had nothing booked from 8am to 9am, and suddenly was put on a job, at the last minute, resulting in her arrival here to be delayed from 9am until 9:30am.

Not a big deal?  WRONG!

Today was my sleep in day, so the wife, David was up and looking after mom. He can’t change her, nor does he even know how. So Mom was worried, and sitting up, waiting for Yvette. 

Thing is, she had voided during the night, the bathsheet under her body was wet, but she wasn’t going to let David know.  Instead she worried, that some stranger was coming, WHILE SITTING IN HER OWN URINE.

It meant I had to get up, to find out first off, what was going on with the worker. The schedule it seems, was altered to show Yvette coming at 9:30, which was good news. It at least consoled Mom that a stranger wasn’t coming.   Then, because it was close to that time, as checking schedules, waking up, takes a bit of time, she still had to sit in the soaked towel and soaker pad. 

I am one person, can’t do two things at once.  First priority was to calm her nerves, to reassure her that everything was under control.  By the time it came to get her off the bed, Yvette was out front.

Then comes the alteration to her routine.  Instead of being nearly ready for her breakfast & morning pills, the day is just beginning for her. Her nerves are worked up, her strength is zapped, and an already tired body, is more tired.  In other words, she is weak, exhausted before the day has even fully begun for her.  It leaves her weak & vulnerable, to the day’s annoyances & problems, like getting up & going to the bathroom.

It doesn’t get better, because everything is pushed back due to the changes.  Not just breakfast, but her lunch, then dinner.  My routine of dishes & laundry gets pushed back, which means my entire schedule is altered. In addition, I lose that added half hour, when I could be working, could be stealing a moment’s peace.   Time lost, is never regained.

Nor does it end with just a disruption of routine. Now my attention has to focus even more, on Mom. I have to watch for those tell tale signs, of her wearing out. She becomes a bit disorientated, and so her walking gets slower, more deliberate. That in turn means I have to go with her, stand closer in case she stumbles, which happens with more frequency, on these days.

Her breathing can become more labored, more shallow, all because Beacon Community Services can not properly manage its own workers, so that it can properly service its Patient load.

AND VIHA IS TO BLAME.

By their unwillingness to monitor BCS, they allow for these disruptions, this incompetency, to occur.  They do not monitor, or do random checks, so therefore there is no checks in place, to aid in rectifying this issue. Hell, they don’t check for anything, not even to insure that those workers being sent into our homes, are actually trained.  They just accept BCSs word that is the case, and I can tell you, IT IS NOT THE CASE.

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What Is There To Be Thankful For

  • Posted on October 10, 2010 at 9:55 am
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It is the Canadian Thanksgiving weekend, and ya know, I wonder.  Just what is there to be thankful for?

I have a cold/flu for the last 2 weeks, every bone in my body aches, but I still have to get up at 7am and can’t head down to unwind until 10:30pm.

Dinner still has to be done, and the battle to make sure a 93 year old eats enough, is constant.

You may be sick, but you still have to be vigilant, to make sure that a 93 yr old takes all of her pills, not just the one’s she thinks she should. (Thanks to the buttinsky of a home support worker).

A wife who shows up and then disappears for most of the night, because he just can’t cope with the old person syndrome.  You know, the smells, the peculiarities, that old people seem to develop.

So what is there to be thankful for?

A routine that only changes when the health issues worsen?

A certainty that nothing you do, is going to prevent the final solution, the death of someone you love deeply.

A constant battle with Home Support Agencies that send workers who are, at best, there for the $20 an hour wage, not about making a difference in the lives of the people they come to help.  A so called ‘non profit’ agency that is really about only making money. A government whose sole purpose is to line their pockets, not serve the people who elect them.

Really, what is there to be thankful for?

For Life

Yeah, life sucks, I feel like shit, but bottom line is, I have a wife, who in his own way cares, and surprises me with his affection at times.  A mother who may be 93, but who is still able to recognize me, and talk to me. 

The ability to actually hold back the dark forces of greed, indifference, by being here for Mom, is something to be thankful for. It’s not easy, and yeah, when you are sick you still have to fight through it and do your job, because no one else will do it for you. And that does make you stronger, for when you are going to have to face your own demons, devils, called BEING ELDERLY.

Not much to be thankful for, or maybe a hell of a lot. I don’t know which it is, at times, but when it comes down to it, it is the life I have, and at least I am alive to experience it. I guess that too, is something to be thankful for.  The memories that can flood in, at just the right moment, that do, make this all worthwhile.

So Happy Thanksgiving, may it be one of many to come.

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Home Support Workers A Few Questions

  • Posted on October 3, 2010 at 8:18 am
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Here is the scenario:

You have been to a 93 year olds a few times over the last 15 months. Most was when she was in a cast, which was 14 months ago, give or take a few weeks.

Question #1:

Do you assume nothing has changed?

Question #2:

Do you read the provided Care Plan PRIOR to beginning your duties, so you are assured of just what those duties are, for changes since your last visit?

Scenario Continued:

You are informed that the 93 year old Patient has a groin infection, a bad cold, and is considerably weaker than normal. Further, you are told she has prescription creams applied, which is done by the primary care giver, NOT HER.

Question #3:

Do you pester the Patient to find out which creams are to be used in the groin area?

Question #4:

When you are informed, by the Primary Care Giver, that the creams are by prescription, and are applied by them, do you then insist that whoever is applying the creams, are not putting enough of them on the infected area?

Question #5:

Do you make the Patient sit up, turn around, sit down, sit up and continue that for over 40 minutes?

Be interesting if any Home Support Worker, who reads this blog, replies.  See, to me it is pretty much Common Sense on the right procedure.  I mean, how can any worker KNOW if the creams being applied, are done in the right manner, if you don’t even know what the creams are?

If a person is elderly, weak to begin with,weaker from the ravages of both a persistent groin infection & a bad cold, why would you make them get up and sit down repeatedly, using what little strength they have, needlessly?

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Just Fifty Minutes

  • Posted on August 2, 2010 at 11:54 am
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This entry is part 1 of 24 in the series Quality of Life

Is that really too much to ask for?

home support time in homeAt the moment, Mom is eligible for 120 hours of Home Support per month, and uses 28 hours of it. That works out to ONE HOUR PER DAY, for the entire month.  The purpose is not to just provide her the support she needs, but to give the PRIMARY CARE GIVER a respite.

The reality is that for every hour, you get 50 minutes, as 10 minutes of that hour is allotted for the worker to transit from one job site to another.

What seems to escape the POWERS THAT BE, is that you aren’t providing any respite, when you mess around with that schedule.

When you set a schedule, set a routine for someone who is NINETY THREE YEARS OLD, changes have a huge impact on her quality of life, as well as the primary caregiver.

Old people fixate on ideas, and when they worry needlessly, it creates a bad health situation. It makes them more susceptible to stress, to pressures, that they shouldn’t have to have. PLUS it leads to increased stress to the primary caregiver.

The uncertainly of not knowing who will show up for that FIFTY MINUTES isn’t just a passing fancy. IT LINGERS and can only be reduced, by keeping to a set a schedule, to a set worker.

TOO BAD BEACON COMMUNITY SERVICES & VIHA DO NOT UNDERSTAND THAT.

The argument too, that it is due to a shortage of qualified staff, is rubbish. IF they provided their workers with a regular schedule, without random changes, it becomes easier for the worker to manage, as well as the patient.  That creates JOB SATISFACTION, which keeps workers from being dissatisfied & leaving the work force.

When a regular is sent, the primary caregiver can relax, can sit back and enjoy a hot cup of coffee. One can read the paper, without having to keep an ear open for any problems. It is that FIFTY MINUTES where you can shut your mind off, to just not worry about being called to service.

When a Substitute is sent, you have to Stand Guard, which means that FIFTY MINUTES is not spent unwinding, not spent just relaxing, but instead is just part of the day, WHEN YOU ARE ON DUTY.

adding stress not removing anyWhen you care, your mind doesn’t shut off. You have to plan for problems, to mitigate them. When you are uncertain WHO WILL SHOW UP FOR THOSE FIFTY MINUTES, you have ONE MORE STRESSFULL ITEM TO TRACK.

The less you have to worry about, the easier it is to cope with the job. And this job is about COPING, about STRESS.  To have an ADDED BURDEN THROWN AT YOU only makes you sick, and then what happens to the one you are caring for?

People get sick, go on holidays, which is normal. Certainly at those time, substitutes are a necessary evil, but that isn’t how Beacon Community Services operates. For them, EVERY DAY IS A POTENTIAL HOLIDAY, VACATION TIME, SICK DAY.  And that leads to a lack of continuity that impacts the Patient, as well as the primary caregiver, detrimentally.

VIHA fails to monitor the services being provided, or the scheduling, and that doesn’t even take into consideration, the standard of care being provided in those FIFTY MINUTES.

For over one year, I have been forced to endure random switches of workers, have had to fight for even obtaining regularly scheduled workers, and still, a year later, I cannot go to sleep at night, assured that those assigned to show up, will.   THAT ALONE leads to a restless sleep, that is impacting my own health.

It gnaws at Mom, as each night it is the same question – who is coming tomorrow, will they actually show up?    HOW CAN THAT BE GOOD FOR HER?

That is the reality I deal with 24 hours a day, despite having assurances that a regular schedule will be followed.  Just in the last week, we have had three substitutes out of seven, and that in itself, adds to the stress that cannot be easily erased.

VIHA needs to step in, to find a company that WILL ADHERE to a set of standards, THAT INCLUDES PROVIDING QUALIFIED STAFFING.

AND yet VIHA is unwilling to do this, which makes one wonder, just how many BROWN PAPER BAGS have been handed over to VIHA OFFICIALS?

There is no excuse for VIHA to be so uncaring, so incapable of monitoring the contracts it outsources to private business. Sure, Beacon claims to be NON PROFIT, but come on, how in hell does a small outfit suddenly become the major player in providing care to Seniors, at TAXPAYER EXPENSE?

IT IS TIME WE GOT AN ACCOUNTING FROM VIHA & THE CAMPBELL GOVERNMENT.

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Seniority Over Seniors

  • Posted on July 6, 2010 at 9:33 am
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Mom has a worker she really liked, who had an accident that made her take several weeks off, in order to recuperate. Now that she is back, she’s off to other people, and not even with a full schedule.  She has time available, in Mom’s time slot, but it seems that SENIORITY takes precedence over SENIOR CARE.

IF the goal is to provide CARE for the ELDERLY, shouldn’t their needs comes before anything else?

This is the problem with OUTSOURCING to Private Organizations and, to some extent, even Government Run Operations.

WE need to decide which is better, to insure SENIORITY FOR WORKERS [many of whom are incompetent or plain uncaring] or if it is more cost effective to provide workers that can relate to their Patients.

Mom does better with a worker she trusts [and I trust] than someone who just looks at it, as a paycheque.   UNFORTUNATELY the number who actually GIVE A DAMN are less and less, so when you find one, you don’t want to lose them. 

YET BEACON SEEMS TO THINK ITS OKAY TO PUNISH SENIORS & WORKERS. [It isn't like the worker chose to get sick (have an accident) nor is it Mom's fault that some are just incapable of dealing with an elderly person]

I am fully aware that not every request can be agreed to. However, when the worker has the time available, the Patient requests them, then no other consideration should take precedence. The health, peace of mind, of the Patient should over ride ANY OTHER CONSIDERATION.

There is a more serious issue too. IF the worker is one trusted, one that a rapport has been built, the Patient will stress less. That translates into a better mind set, that promotes healing, promotes healthy attitudes & living. It makes their lives easier, which in turn reduces strain on mediction needs, on other physical needs.

IT HELPS KEEP THEM ALIVE & WELL.   IT GIVES THEM A PROPER QUALITY OF LIFE.

Continue reading Seniority Over Seniors »

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Expecting too much?

  • Posted on May 25, 2010 at 10:20 am
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Patricia Donaldson phoned this morning, regarding my complaint from the weekend. An interesting conversation, given that I think we are poles apart on what we consider proper care for the elderly.

To begin with, the policy at Beacon is that they will attempt to contact a ‘client‘ [I really hate that word, it should be PATIENT] if the worker is going to be more than 60 minutes late in arriving.  Operative word is “attempt” as it would seem they are not obligated to, and that VIHA is just fine with that.

You and I, may be able to shrug off a late time within minutes, but a person who is aged, who is like my mother, 93 years old, they don’t shrug these changes so easily. It gnaws at them, and is something for them to fixate on, and worry about. 

Sunday’s scheduled worker was pulled and sent elsewhere, and had her time changed to show up at 9:30 rather than9:00 am.  Not a big deal, but it is when an old person is sitting on the edge of their bed, waiting for them.

It alters their established routine, which is not easy for them to shake off. Since Sunday, Mom has wondered if the next day’s worker will also be late, and that has gone on now for two days.  She worries throughout the day, which adds stress to her.  AT 93 WHO NEEDS ADDED STRESS?

Of course, this added stress to her, adds stress to me too. I am the one who has to deal with it, to console her, to reassure her.  It isn’t easy for me either, but the fact is, it does have a physical impact on Mother.   AND THAT IS NOT RIGHT!

Seems to me that we should be more aware of the needs of the elderly, rather than what suits us. Maybe I am expecting too much from Government & the Private Sector, but I don’t really think so. I mean what is it, about not having compassion, about not wanting to care?

Shouldn’t those be goals we should ALL strive for?

I am starting to try and reach our elusive Government figures, because you know, what about those who have no one?  I am here, and can cajole, can reassure Mom, but what about those elderly people who are in their beds, the door unlocked, waiting for their worker?

It isn’t like they can check the computer, as most don’t even know what one looks like, let alone how to run one. Many are unable due to arthritic hands, to operate a computer keyboard, so how are they supposed to know that their scheduled worker is coming a half hour late, or an hour?

So they will sit on the edge of their bed, listening to every creak, every noise, wondering if that is their worker arriving, or if it is some stranger coming to harm them? After all, their minds aren’t quite what it once was.  Yet today, private enterprise seems to forget, that they are serving real people, not numbers.  Government is forgetting that these people are the one’s who made this country, this province.  They are forgetting, that one day, they too, will be sitting on the edge of their bed, wondering why no one has shown up to help them bathe, to get them out of bed, or worse…   to give them their daily medications.

AM I EXPECTING TOO MUCH?

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