The Very Least ...

I wish:

1. That all staff having interaction of any kind with patients have training in how to deal with patients with Alzheimer's Disease or Dementia. For example the 30 hour course that is available through the Alzheimer's Society ... as the very least level of training acceptable.

2. That the wait list...wait time be reduced significantly. We know that there are 6000+ beds for long term care in the province and we know that there are over 1200 on a waiting list to receive a bed. That is as of October 9th. That is unacceptable. Most reasonably intelligent adults in this country realize that the population is aging, that dementia and Alzheimer's are more prevalent in the elderly, and that there will be more demand for long term care in the immediately and foreseeable future. There are over 1200 families in crisis waiting for a safe, caring environment for their loved one. It is my understanding that there is currently only one individual in place to process applications for long term care beds. How can one individual do this on a timely basis? Maybe that is why it took from early June to early October for the application for Mr Williams to be admitted in a long term care facility to be processed and for him to be officially 'on the list'.

3. Home care support must be improved. Mr. Williams' widow was eligible for 40 hours of assistance each month to help with the home care of Mr Williams. That is almost an insult to a family that is dealing with the care of a loved one 24 hours each and every day. 10 hours a week really doesn't begin to address the problem.

4. The final aspect that demands immediate attention is the access to information and support services for the families. Yes there is currently a lot of information available, but when a family is struggling with the day to day business of living and caring for a loved one, they really don't have time to spend hours searching the internet or calling various agencies to see what services are available. A central clearing house of information (on the model of Cancer Care perhaps) needs to be established. A standard needs to be set and maintained.

Oh and are we, the tax payer, getting value for the billions of dollars being pumped into our health care system each and every year? What nasties lie under the rocks that are just waiting to be turned over?