file image, CFJC Today

By Dylana Kneeshaw

BC SENIORS CARE

How seniors care in B.C has changed during a pandemic, and what measures could stay for the future

Apr 27, 2020 | 4:28 PM

VICTORIA — In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, changes have had to be made in how seniors in B.C are cared for — whether that be at home, or in a long term care facility.

For at home care, the province doubled funding for Family Caregivers of B.C to $1 million. The money will be used to increase help line support for unpaid family caregivers experiencing high stress and needing a break from their responsibilities.

BC Senior’s Advocate Isobel Mackenzie says the emotional support offered is crucial for those who spend their time caring for others.

“This is really a way of saying now more than ever might be the time when you’re feeling overwhelmed, to reach out. Phone the Family Caregiver Support Line, talk to somebody, and they will connect you with other family caregivers.”

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Changes have also been made for seniors living in long term care, as in-person visits are not allowed. Mackenzie says the isolation is not ideal for elderly people who already have limited social interactions, but these measures are necessary under a pandemic situation.

“It is interesting to see the sense of “we will get through this” attitude — mainly because they’ve seen a lot of disruptive events in their life, like World War II. And so they have a good attitude about it,” notes Mackenzie. “Having said that, a number are going to be, and increasingly become lonely because the measures are going to be in place for a while.”

When infection rates decrease, Mackenzie says she and other advocates hope limited in-person visits will be allowed.

“I think that together we can find a way to reintroduce some level of spouses being able to visit, adult children being able to visit. You know, the frequency may not be what it was. I don’t think anybody sees the big birthday parties with the grandkids anymore, for the next year anyhow.”

Protecting vulnerable populations has been a key focus for the province, as several long term care facilities were hit with COVID-19 outbreaks at the start of the pandemic. After the first outbreak at the Lynn Valley Care Centre in British Columbia, Mackenzie says health authorities were on top of getting into facilities quickly to get a handle on climbing rates.

“So we are, at the moment, doing much better than Ontario and Quebec. We seem to have restricted it to a large extent to the Lower Mainland. There’s been a very, very limited outbreak in Interior Health with a care facility.”

With outbreak rates stabilizing, Mackenzie notes that the masks, extra cleaning, and additional testing measures have shown what might be worth continuing after the pandemic.

“Our first outbreak of COVID-19, we caught that because we were testing for influenza, and the influenza test had been tagged with the COVID test at that time, and that’s how we caught it.”

Mackenzie says classifying outbreaks has changed during the pandemic, and that might be something to consider for other illnesses in the future.

“We will get through this, but we’re always going to have influenza, GI (gastrointestinal) outbreaks,” Mackenzie says, “so I’m thinking, maybe we will reduce those because maybe now we’ll think, ‘Between October and March, should everybody wear surgical masks to prevent droplet transmission?'”

Higher testing rates for staff in these facilities is another area that Mackenzie says could be carried over into a non-pandemic situation.

“Oftentimes there’s other things you learn that are not related to COVID per se, but have shown us that it is an interesting question, about can we actually reduce our outbreaks overall by employing some of the more extraordinary measures we learned through COVID.”