Long-Term Care Facilities -Many unable to meet basic needs of seniors

Media Release
May, 6, 2021

Seniors Care Staff Study Calls for More Time to Care
Report reveals more than 40 per cent of seniors care centres
can’t meet adequate care needs

Edmonton – A new Parkland Institute study, Time to Care: Staffing and Workloads in Alberta’s Long-term Care Facilities, by Parkland research manager Rebecca Graff-McRae, reveals that many seniors continuing care centres are chronically understaffed and unable to meet the basic care needs of seniors.

Parkland Institute researchers collaborated with the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE-AB) to survey more than 350 LTC staff across Alberta in early 2020 and found nearly half of respondents – 43 per cent – didn’t have adequate time to complete required tasks consistently. Only 24 per cent stated they never had essential tasks outstanding at the end of a shift.

“Our study reveals why the coronavirus pandemic became a matter of life and death, as many seniors care facilities that had previously “managed” with inadequate staffing levels were unable to provide even the most basic levels of care for their residents – with tragic consequences,” says report author Rebecca Graff-McRae. “The Alberta government needs to listen to the health providers on the frontlines about the serious implications of lack of care staff if we are going to fix the crisis in seniors care.”

Staff are left with few options: leave important aspects of their job – including care tasks – undone, work through their breaks, or stay late to finish. Seventy per cent of respondents stayed beyond the end of their shift at least occasionally and nearly one quarter – 24 per cent – stayed late either daily or once per week. It is clear from these responses that staying beyond the end of their shift is the norm for many LTC workers.

“Exhausted, rushed and stressed staff cannot provide the level of personal, relational care that residents need and deserve”, said Kelly Spence, CUPE Local 8 site vice-president. “Concerns about adequate staffing to meet the care needs of residents have been raised for decades, but the Government of Alberta has not undertaken any study of staffing levels and working conditions in the LTC sector.”

“For far too long the government has allowed residents and workers to fall through the cracks,” said CUPE Alberta president Rory Gill. “The impact of COVID-19 has made these problems more acute and frankly, more deadly. It’s time the government stepped up and ensured adequate staffing and resources for long-term-care facilities. The workers and residents deserve it.”

When asked whether their facility had adequate staffing to provide quality care for residents, a significant disparity could be seen across ownership/profit categories: 34 per cent of respondents based in for-profit facilities reported they never have adequate staff-to-resident ratios to meet resident needs, compared to just seven per cent for public facilities. Not-for profit facilities fell in the middle at 16 per cent.

“When homes are understaffed, that hurts workers and residents,” said June St. Lewis, an AUPE steward at a continuing care home. “Workers want to be able to provide the highest possible quality of care, but we just don’t have the resources to do so. We end up burnt out, and residents end up with care that doesn’t meet the standards we aim for.”

“When staff in for-profit long-term-care facilities report they are almost five times more likely to never have adequate staff-to-resident ratios to meet care needs, then we know residents in for-profit facilities are more at risk of adverse outcomes,” says Graff-McRae. “With two-thirds of all COVID-19 deaths happening in long-term-care centres in Canada, the fact that for-profit facilities provide fewer hours of direct care per resident per day and are more likely to have fewer staff per resident should be of central concern to the government’s review of seniors care. Unfortunately, the government is moving to protect seniors care corporations against legal liability with Bill 70, rather than address the underlying reasons for the crisis in seniors care.”

“Profit has no place in continuing care,” said Mike Dempsey, vice-president of AUPE. “These facilities should have one purpose — to provide good care for Alberta’s seniors, and create good jobs in the process. Profit-making directly contradicts that goal. The only way to make sure this doesn’t happen again is to bring the entire continuing care system under public control. From there, democratically elected governments can choose to do things like increase staffing levels and implement the standards of care that seniors deserve.”

“Workers are tired of being called heroes while governments ignore our cries to improve standards in continuing care in Alberta,” said St. Lewis. “We want more than words, we want action.”

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For more information or to arrange interviews, contact:

Sarah Pratt, communications co-ordinator
spratt1@ualberta.ca
587.338.0171

Parkland Institute is a non-partisan public policy research institute in the Faculty of Arts at the University of Alberta. “Time to Care” is available for download on Parkland Institute’s website.

 

 

Mental health awareness day


January 25, 2017
Local 2157 President Lise Comeau and
Vice President Karli Matthews sit to talk at
Keyano College for mental health awareness day.

Health and Safety Award

Do you know a member who has made a significant contribution in the area of health and safety in Alberta?  If so, we would like to hear from you!

Closing date for nominations: December 31, 2016

Click here for more information.

Dear Local Executive and CUPE Members,

 Re: Relief FUND for CUPE Alberta members  

In light of the devastation caused by wild fires in the Fort McMurray area, CUPE Alberta is creating a Relief Fund to assist CUPE members in Alberta who are affected by this 2016 fire.

All monies collected will go directly to CUPE members, the funds will be split amongst CUPE Alberta members who have lost their homes or who will have to be relocated for an extended period of time.

We are asking locals to donate to the Relief Fund to assist our members in rebuilding their lives and homes, and restore hope for the future.

We are hoping to have all donations into the CUPE Alberta Office asap.   This will enable us to distribute the funds to the affected CUPE members.

Please forward your donation to:

CUPE Alberta Treasurer
ATTN: Relief Fund – Fire
300 – 10235 124 Street
Edmonton AB T5N 1P9

In solidarity,
Marle's signature
Marle Roberts
President, CUPE Alberta

 

Important information for drivers

Renewing Your Provincial Driver’s Licence

fleetAs of April 1, 2016 the Province of Alberta will no longer be mailing out reminders to your home to renew your provincial driver’s licence.

Employees operating employer fleet vehicles or equipment are required to have a valid provincial driver’s licence, as well as an operator’s permit.

 It is the responsibility of employees to ensure that you renew your provincial driver’s licence prior to your birthday expiration date.

Please click the link below to sign up for your free renewal notification via email or text message.

Visit www.e-registry.ca to request a renewal reminder email or text message.

 

April 28 – Day of Mourning

DayofMourning-Banner-01

Every day, workers around the world are injured and killed while trying to earn a living. In Alberta, workplace deaths number in the hundreds per year.

On April 28th we pause to remember those injured and killed while working, and re-commit to improving conditions so further deaths will not occur.

The last year has sadly seen its share of workplace deaths and injuries. However, there is some good news. Alberta has joined other provinces in Canada in protecting agricultural workers under labour and health and safety laws. In the first three months of 2016, WCB Alberta has approved 159 applications for compensation from farmworkers – applications that would have been denied last year.

There is still much more to be done. Workplace deaths are preventable. Please keep working to make our jobs safer.

Click here to find out about April 28 events in your area.

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Make a pledge for parity!

InternationalWomensDay-portraitMarch 8th is International Women’s Day. A day to reflect on our success in building equality for women, and a day to take stock on what issues are next to tackle.

We’ve won some important symbolic victories in the last year – we elected more women to Parliament, and more women to Alberta’s Legislature than ever before.  Canada is proceeding with a much needed inquiry into the thousands of missing and murdered aboriginal women.

But there is still much progress to be made.

IWD was originally called “International Working Women’s Day” when it first happened in 1909, as it was called to remember a strike by members of the International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union.  In that spirit, I want to look at the issues facing working women today.

Canada is still without a national child care plan, something that would make it easier for women to pursue a career and motherhood should they choose to. Child care lifts families out of poverty, as it allows mothers (and all parents) more options to support their families. According to the Globe and Mail, women in Canada make, on average, $8,000 less than men doing an equivalent job.

You can take a small action today – click here to ‘Make a Pledge for Parity’ and be sure to follow-up that pledge with action.