When the story of COVID-19 in B.C. in 2020 is told, the impact it’s had on seniors in long-term care facilities will be a defining part of the narrative. On March 10, Canada’s first recorded COVID-19 death was at the Lynn Valley Care Centre in North Vancouver. Since then, there have been more than 400 deaths from COVID-19 in care facilities in B.C., representing 71 per cent of the nearly 700 COVID deaths in B.C. Almost 90 per cent of people who have died of COVID in B.C. have been over the age of 70. Read MoreRead More

A recent study by the British Columbia Nurses Union and the UBC School of Nursing, found that 40 percent of the province’s nurses are struggling with severe depression.The study also revealed that as a result of the pandemic, 60 percent of nurses are showing signs of burnout.“We know 85 percent of our nurses are seriously concerned about bringing this virus home,” said Christine Sorensen, president of the British Columbia Nurses Union, or BCNU. Read MoreRead More

EXTENSION OF PROVINCE-WIDE RESTRICTIONS On January 7, 2021 BC’s Provincial Health Officer (PHO) ordered an extension to existing province-wide restrictions to reduce the transmission of COVID-19. Specifically, the sections of the gatherings and events order concerning visitors in private residences and allowable/prohibited events (sections A, B and C) that were to expire on January 8th have been extended to February 5, 2021 at midnight. All events and social gatherings are suspended to significantly reduce COVID-19 transmission related to social interactions. All non-essential travel should be avoided. This includes travel into and out of B.C. and between regions of the province. PHO UPDATES RE: VARSITY SPORT AND RETAIL OCCUPANCY LIMITS – Varsity sport On December 24, 2020 BC’s Public Health Officer (PHO) amended the Gatherings and Events Order to expand and clarify restrictions on sports and fitness activities. These changes include permitting varsity sports subject to conditions, such as allowing participants to train or practice only with their home institution, ensuring participants maintain three-metre physical distancing, and prohibiting spectators. For the sake of clarity, “varsity sport” includes only formally recognized sports rather than intramural or other informal fitness activities. It is defined as follows: “Varsity sport” means a sport for which the eligibility requirements for participation are established by a national...Read More

Long before the pandemic, her family and others had complained about the quality of care residents were getting at George Pearson Centre, a long-term care home owned and operated by Vancouver Coastal Health for people with complex care needs. Read MoreRead More

It was a gut punch to people living in assisted living and long-term care and their families who are already all-too-aware of the body of evidence confirming that the pandemic lockdowns have made their fragile health even more precarious. Read MoreRead More

Countries with strong regulation and centralized oversight of their long-term care have fared better overall in dealing with COVID-19, according to veteran, Canadian seniors care researchers. Fuelled by this, co-authors Pat Armstrong and Marcy Cohen are making recommendations to Ottawa in a discussion paper today by Vancouver-based Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, a left-leaning think-tank. Read MoreRead More

Too much of what you’re writing comes from the dark side, he said. Maybe you should retire. It got me thinking. … And no, not about retirement. To the question of joyful stuff, I can answer a conditional yes. They’re have been small scale things close to home in a year when, ironically, I had planned to visit Bhutan – the first place in the world where government budgets are screened through the lens of their effect on citizens’ happiness and well-being. Read MoreRead More

Two health-care workers who served on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic in a private long-term care home say they’ve been unfairly excluded from a temporary wage top-up given to their counterparts in publicly funded facilities. A care aide a nurse who both work at a privately owned and operated care home in Port Coquitlam said they worked 12- to 16-hour shifts to care for the home’s 49 residents in the early weeks of the pandemic. Read More Original Article Source Credits:   CityNews1130 , https://www.citynews1130.com/ Article Written By:  KELVIN GAWLEY Original Article Posted on:   Oct 22, 2020 Link to Original Article:  https://www.citynews1130.com/2020/10/22/private-care-home-workers-call-exclusion-from-b-c-pandemic-pay-extremely-unfair/Read More

Opinion: More funding is needed for raw food costs and dietary staff to support homemade meal service, more direct care hours to offer daily showers or baths if desired, a decrease in the use of antipsychotics without a supporting diagnosis of psychosis. Read More Original Article Source Credits:  The Province , https://theprovince.com/ Article Written By:  Dan Levitt Original Article Posted on:  Oct 25, 2020 Link to Original Article:  https://theprovince.com/opinion/dan-levitt-a-new-deal-is-urgently-needed-in-long-term-careRead More

People can alleviate anxiety symptoms by keeping to routines, exercising, and staying connected with their social network as well as following public health guidelines such as washing your hands, wearing masks, and maintaining physical distance. Read More Original Article Source Credits:   Vancouver Sun , https://vancouversun.com/ Article Written By:  Kevin Griffin Original Article Posted on:  Oct 09, 2020 Link to Original Article:  https://vancouversun.com/news/mental-health-challenges-expected-to-increase-during-the-first-full-winter-of-covid-19Read More