Caring changes

Working in long-term care for 35 years, Jan McAlister has seen many things change throughout that time.

“Used to be we thought – and we even went to council one time and said you’re warehousing our seniors,” she said. “You’re not looking after them as people; they’re just another box ticked off.”

McAlister, a registered nurse at Pioneer Ridge, said now the emphasis is on the resident as a person, not just “the lady with the fractured hip.”

Long-term care facilities in Northwestern Ontario now implement best practices, methods of improving life for residents by making them as comfortable as possible. Tuesday, the region’s long-term care facilities gathered at St. Joseph’s Heritage to celebrate and share the best practices they’ve used.

Best practices related to incontinence, pain management, preventing falls and palliative care have done wonders to improve resident life, McAlister said.

“I think it’s way better now than in the old days when I first started,” she said. “Nobody wants to go into long-term care, so by implementing some of the best practices, you’re trying to make their life as comfortable as possible.”

Projects on diabetes in seniors, oral care and early detection of pneumonia were also shared Tuesday. Northwestern Ontario’s long-term care best practices coordinator Heather Woodbeck said the pneumonia detection project has prevented about 20 people from having to go to the hospital.

“We started that in one home and they were able in the first year to divert 10 cases of pneumonia – to use antibiotics in their home as opposed to having to send them to the hospital,” Woodbeck said.

The importance of Tuesday’s gathering was to collaborate amongst the different long-term care homes, because often changes that have been made come from the staff in one home talking to the staff in another, said Woodbeck.

She added it’s vital to recognize the hard work many people have done.

“So often long-term care is painted as not being caring and people really do care and they’re working very hard and making lots of great changes,” she said.