Gillian Marie says we must take action to ensure seniors are not denied their right to quality care.
Thank you, Geoff Harper, for raising the issue of quality rest home care for our vulnerable elderly folks.
I have been an advocate for three of my relatives in five different rest homes throughout the country.
It seems family members are too scattered geographically, too busy with their
own lives and too ready to absolve themselves of their responsibilities. And, too eager to hand over their frailer family members to the care of strangers.
Then, from a sense of guilt and gratitude that their "problem" has been solved, they do not question the care that their family members are receiving.
There is a sense of being abandoned among some elderly in rest homes. It is the 21st-century version of the 18th- and 19th-century British Poorhouse. We can do better.
There is no doubt that many carers are committed to providing the best care they can for residents, but the bottom line for the rest home organisation is the profit margin.
As a consequence, rest homes tend to be holding places where the elderly are medicated, fed and kept alive.
Our elderly are proudly independent, hardworking people.
They are used to living within their means, with their own individual routines, doing things for themselves. They are stoic and accepting of their lot.
When they become inmates of a rest home they have little input into the way they live.
This includes when they wake, shower and go to bed, the timing of their meals and their contents and what they do in their day.
Not one rest home I have had contact with provided a craft or workshop room, access to a garden or a space for people to develop a hobby. Neither did they have regular input from residents into possible activities.
Bingo, cards, crosswords, indoor bowls and a news review are the extent of the group's weekly programme.
Most rest homes will not permit residents to keep their own money on the reasoning that it could be stolen. They are infantalised and institutionalised.
Very soon they are less able to make even the smallest of decisions in their own interest. They deserve better.
When I was supporting my mother's desire to return to her home from a rest home, she faced a plethora of assessors and assessments. This was stressful and she considered it an invasion of her privacy.
She lost 10kg in her three months as a resident of a rest home and had constant diarrhoea.
Fortunately, she didn't experience the usual problem faced by rest home residents - chronic bladder infections.
She was on a daily cocktail of 18 different drugs, which caused her some disorientation and imbalance. Her medication was never assessed, although she was in the rest home to receive medical care.
Only after she returned home and saw a gerontologist, who cut back her medication to three tablets a day, did she begin to gain weight and regain her strength and confidence.
I support Mr Harper's call for increased pay rates for caregivers and nurses, and a government agency to oversee elderly care.
The Government also needs to encourage the training of more gerontologists as they can play a significant role in improving the lives of the elderly.
Independent gerontologists could assess all elderly, and rest home residents in particular, on a regular basis.
This would benefit the elderly and drastically cut back the Government's drug bill for the elderly who are over-prescribed. By suggesting alternatives to rest home care, Government subsidies paid to rest homes will be reduced.
Instead of cutting the Home Care provision, this service should be expanded to encourage independent living.
And those of us who are baby boomers need to plan now for our own care in our vulnerable old age.
Somehow, I think it will look quite different from what we have provided for our own ageing parents.
Gillian Marie, MA, is formerly assistant director at the Centre for Continuing Education at the University of Waikato and now lives with her mother as her full-time carer.
