What’s New
Carol’s Recent Care Watch Printables
QUOTABLES:
The Pandemic Is Highlighting A Huge Disadvantage For LGBTQ Long-Term Care Residents. Most long-term care homes don’t even want to know that we exist. And they make our lives difficult. The level of homophobia in long-term care comes, not only from staff but from other residents, is so high it’s frightening.
leZlie lee kam friend of Alf Roberts who died June 2 at the Fudger House retirement home in Toronto
The Lead:
COVID-19 robbed lives of about 7,000 health workers, Amnesty International reports
In a Sept. 2 update, Medscape reported at least 17 healthcare workers who have died in Canada, the information for which is reproduced below:
- Agary Akaekpuchionwa, age unknown, personal support worker (CUPE), long-term care home, Ottawa
- Brian Beattie, 57, nurse, Kensington Village Nursing Home, London, Ontario
- Huy Hao Dao, 44, public health physician, Montreal
- Marcelin Francois, 40, personal support worker, Montreal
- Marina Thenor Louis, 45, orderly, CHSLD Cartierville, Montreal
- Christine Mandegarian, 54, personal support worker, Altamont Care Community, Scarborough
- Laurence Ménard, 33, social worker, CLSC Drummond, Drummondville
- Arlene Reid, 51, personal support worker, Victorian Order of Nurses, Brampton
- Sharon Roberts, 59, personal support worker, Downsview Long Term Care, North York
- Leonard Rodriguez, 61, Toronto
- Victoria “Vicky” Salvan, 64, orderly, Centre de Soins Prolongés Grace Dart, Montreal
- Stéphanie Tessier, 31, orderly, CHSLD Lucien-G. Rolland, Saint-Jérôme
- Warlito Valdez, 47, residential support worker for people with disabilities, Richmond, B.C.
- Denis Vincent, 62, dentist, North Vancouver, B.C.
- Anonymous Hospital Cleaner, 58, Brampton Civic Hospital, Brampton
- Anonymous Personal Support Worker, 50s, Sienna Senior Living’s Altamont Care Community, Scarborough, Ontario
- Anonymous Personal Support Worker, age unknown, Madonna Community Care, Ottawa
“This list is not yet complete, and we need your help to keep it up to date,” Medscape clarified in the news release.
The list does not specify if all of these listed Canadians acquired the virus during exposure in the workplace in caring for those with the illness.
Steve Cockburn, head of economic and social justice at Amnesty International, called the deaths of around 7,000 health workers “a crisis on a staggering scale.”
WORLD NEWS
Virus in Sweden highlighted deficiencies in care for elderly
Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven has pledged to improve the care for older people in the country, where COVID-19 related health conditions have taken the lives of 5 837 people, Swedish news portal The Local and the EU European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control report.
On Tuesday, September 8, Löfven delivered a speech at an unusual opening session of the Swedish parliament, with only half of his cabinet ministers and 190 of Sweden’s 349 members of parliament present in the hall amid coronavirus health and safety measures.
Among other topics, the Social Democrat leader addressed some of the flaws highlighted by the coronavirus, which fatally swept though many Swedish elderly care homes at an alarmingly fast rate earlier this year.
The Sweden that was hit by Covid-19 was not perfect, with deficiencies in care for older people, ongoing climate change that impacts our children’s future, and cracks in the welfare system that is meant to guarantee people’s security. That’s why we will not go back to how Sweden was before the crisis. We will build back even better, stated the Swedish Prime Minister promising to invest more in the affected areas, as quoted by The Local.
Over the past two weeks, 2,354 Swedes have been confirmed to have contracted COVID-19. In the country, related health conditions have taken the lives 5,837, according to European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.
LTC ARCHIVE
Inspired by Carol Wodak founding member of CITIZEN WATCH
BACKGROUNDER: CITIZEN WATCH was created as a public service for the people of Alberta. It was the work of an ever-widening network of individuals from across the province, including families and friends of long term care and assisted or supportive living residents and those requiring long term care supports in their own homes. CITIZEN WATCH WEBSITE
RECENT PRINTABLES
INDEX (CLICK on Carol’s contributed collated collections by date)
| Aug 24, 2020 | ||
| Aug 16, 2020 | Aug 12, 2020 | Aug 3, 2020 |
| JULY 27. 2020 | JULY 6,2020 | JUNE 30, 2020 |
| JUNE 29, 2020 | JUNE 18, 2020 | JUNE 17, 2020 |
| May 31, 2020 | May 29, 2020 | May 15, 2020 |
OTHER PPUBLICATIONS
- 18 May 2020 Old money Tortoise Thousands of care home residents are dying from Covid-19, and staff are on minimum wage. But in the background, big profits are being made. Ian Birrell investigates a broken industry
CLICK for Carol’s complete collection of carefully crafted carewatch content
We have failed the old people of this country:
“Experts, resident advocates, and those with loved ones on the inside say that isolation brought on by the coronavirus pandemic is fueling a mental health crisis in long-term care facilities.” — AARP pic.twitter.com/s7tLtZTUA2
— ELIJAH RIOT (@ElijahSchaffer) September 7, 2020
We owe it to seniors and their loved ones to make long-term care part of our public healthcare system & help families make ends meet with a national prescription drug plan. Join me and sign the petition. #ForwardTogether #canlab https://t.co/SU6V55MTEt
— Patrick J. Stuart (@PatrickJStuart1) September 13, 2020
With 7,000 new jobs opening up in long term care homes, B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix is urging hospitality and accommodation industry workers who were la #jobs https://t.co/wR6Q3orpgX pic.twitter.com/hyL1Znk3Uh
— Karyera.com (@Karyera_com) September 13, 2020
A COVID-19 outbreak at one of Ottawa’s long-term care homes has expanded to at least 15 positive cases. #ottnews https://t.co/w2tRr9bNFa
— 580 CFRA (@CFRAOttawa) September 12, 2020