“Seniors Care For A Change” Report Makes Front Page

Yesterday morning the BC Care Providers released its Seniors Care for a Change report. A year in the making, Seniors Care for a Change catalogues real-life examples of unnecessary red tape in the continuing care sector. The report provides real-life stories of the increasingly complex regulatory and policy environment facing care providers across the province. It focuses on practical opportunities to reduce red tape within BC’s continuing care sector while maintaining or improving the quality of care provided to our seniors.

Since its release just yesterday, the report has generated significant interest within government, as well as the continuing care sector. The report, and its 5 key recommendations, has also become a salient topic in the media. See below for the article on the front page of the Vancouver Sun focusing on the report.

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Workers fired for abusing seniors allowed to work in field again: report

BY GORDON HOEKSTRA, VANCOUVER SUN JULY 14, 2014

World Elder Abuse Awareness Day aims to help people become more aware of what is considered a “hidden issue” that can take many forms, including physical, emotional and financial abuse. Photograph by: Daniel Berehulak , Getty Images — World Elder Abuse Awareness Day aims to help people become more aware of what is considered a “hidden issue” that can take many forms, including physical, emotional and financial abuse.

A report on seniors care in B.C. raises concerns that aide workers fired for abusing residents have been reinstated on a provincial registry, allowing them to work in the field.

It also flags concerns about the sharing of rooms and meal times.

The report commissioned by the B.C. Care Providers Association (BCCPA) concludes investigations by the provincial government’s B.C. Care Aide & Community Health Worker Registry are reported in an untimely manner, expensive and often more lenient than internal and other external investigations by provincial licensing authorities.

The care providers association represents 263 private and non-profit care providers with about 11,000 care beds.

“The vast majority of care is done in a very respectful way and people have great interactions,” BCCPA CEO Daniel Fontaine said Monday.

“In the rare cases they aren’t, we have to make sure that industry and government and other organizations like the B.C. Care Aid registry should all be working on the same page to ensure that those individuals (workers) are taken out of the system as soon as possible.”

The BCCPA has adopted a zero-tolerance stance toward abuse of residents by workers…Read more.