Question 554-18(3): Long-Term Care

In the Legislative Assembly on February 12th, 2019. See this topic in context.

Question 554-18(3): Long-Term Care
Oral Questions

Page 4839

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I know the Minister of Health and Social Services has been waiting patiently for almost an hour for these questions. Earlier I spoke about the residents of long-term care and how we could have a few more opportunities for them to live life to the fullest, and that is in terms of activities, in terms of getting out of the facility a little bit more, and things like that. I have some questions for the Minister of Health.

One of the objectives of the Department of Health's Continuing Care Action Plan is to optimize healthy aging by increasing opportunities and improving environments for seniors and elders to lead active and independent lives. This objective contains actions aimed at keeping seniors out of long-term care, including developing adult day programs and accessible transportation to help seniors get out of the house. There seems to be a recognition that these types of activities are vital to living a fulfilling life. However, the long-term care section of the action plan ignores such concepts. It speaks more about the administrative and back-end operational aspects of long-term care. Can the Minister explain why the action plan doesn't contain any actions that support mental well-being of long-term care residents? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Question 554-18(3): Long-Term Care
Oral Questions

Page 4839

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Minister of Health and Social Services.

Question 554-18(3): Long-Term Care
Oral Questions

February 12th, 2019

Page 4839

Glen Abernethy Great Slave

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to, obviously, thank the Member for his statement earlier today. I would like to confirm, first off, that I personally feel that our minds, the minds of everybody in this Assembly, the minds of the staff who are working on this incredibly important file, have been turned to the exact issues that the Member has identified.

When it comes to the particular action plan that the Member has referenced, there are other action plans as well that we are working on. We are moving forward with the long-term care review that actually clearly articulates some of the work that we are doing around design and other things with long-term care. You have to take the document as a whole, as well as the work that we are doing in other areas as a whole, as opposed to just focusing in on one action item.

Mr. Speaker, people often speak of long-term care facilities the same way that we talk about hospitals or other clinical settings, but it is really, really important to remember that long-term care facilities are a person's home. In our planning and in our design, we have worked really hard, and we have a standard of design that we have been implementing and evolving. As we build each facility, we learn from the last, and I hope that all of the Members have had an opportunity to visit the facility in Norman Wells, where you can see that the facility has really been designed with the focus on a home.

We don't just focus on the design of buildings. We are also trying to improve and evolve our services around this area in long-term care facilities, and there are a number of standards already in place that help support the concept and the philosophy of home, as opposed to a clinical facility.

Mr. Speaker, we support the establishment of family and resident councils, whose role is to contribute to the creation of positive living environments to help them set up the environment, make sure that the supports come in, the exact types of supports the Member has talked about, helping people get out into the community, those types of things. We are trying to do that work. We need to look at everything that we are doing as a whole, as opposed to looking at single items. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Question 554-18(3): Long-Term Care
Oral Questions

Page 4840

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

I would like to remind Members to shorten their answers and also questions, because we haven't gone through all of the Members yet, and it is already five minutes before our session is done. Just a reminder to the Members.

Question 554-18(3): Long-Term Care
Oral Questions

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R.J. Simpson Hay River North

A few minutes ago, I sent the Minister the questions I was going to ask, and I think he thought that that was one question because he answered all of them. How about this, then? Moving forward, the Minister mentioned there is a long-term care review. There are regulations that are being developed. Would the Minister commit to going and speaking with the actual residents of long-term care? Because that is where I hear these concerns coming from. Will the Minister commit to him or the department speaking to the residents so that they can develop some of these opportunities that we have discussed regarding opportunities to live a fulfilling life?

Question 554-18(3): Long-Term Care
Oral Questions

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Glen Abernethy Great Slave

In many ways, I have already done that myself, but I hear the Member. I have visited many long-term care facilities. I have talked to many residents. I have heard many of the same things that the Member has already articulated, which is why we are doing much of the work we are doing.

Yes, staff will be going to facilities, will be learning from the residents, will be talking to the residents, but there are a number of things that we are already doing. I mean, we are implementing interRAI. I won't go into the details on that, because I know the Member knows how important it is to do assessments to identify what types of supports individuals need. We are currently getting our facilities accredited, which will help us articulate some more needs that we need to address. We are developing new regulatory framework, so we absolutely will be reaching out to residents, both in facilities today, but some that might be eventually in facilities. We are implementing our Continuing Care Action Plan that the Member commented about earlier. There is a lot happening, but absolutely, yes, our staff will be working closely with providers and residents.

Question 554-18(3): Long-Term Care
Oral Questions

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R.J. Simpson Hay River North

Can the Minister give us a timeline for the completion of this review and of the regulations?

Question 554-18(3): Long-Term Care
Oral Questions

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Glen Abernethy Great Slave

InterRAI will be rolling out in quarter four of 2019-2020. The accreditation is currently taking place in a number of facilities. I can't tell you exactly when that will be done. It really depends on how it rolls out. For the regulatory framework, we are going to need to do an LP and a number of other things. Some of that, we might not see the results in the life of this government, but the work will be beginning in the life of this government.

Question 554-18(3): Long-Term Care
Oral Questions

Page 4840

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.

Question 554-18(3): Long-Term Care

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