Home care rated lowest in biggest cities, Health Quality Council of Alberta survey finds

Albertans receiving home care in theCalgary and Edmonton areas rate the quality of their service lower than those living in smaller cities or rural areas, according to the results ofa firstofitskind survey released Thursday.

On a scale from zero to 10, homecare recipients in the largest metropolitan areas rated the service a7.9 out of 10, according to theHealth Quality Council of Alberta (HQCA) survey, which gathered responses from more than 7,000 people across the province.

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That compares to an average rating of 8.2 out of 10 in cities with populations under 500,000 such as Red Deer, Lethbridge and Grande Prairie.

Home care recipients in rural areas (defined as communities with populations below 25,000) rated their service the highest at 8.4 out of 10.

"In smaller communities and smaller settings, what we see is there's more consistency in the staff," saidHCQAchief executive officer AndrewNeuner.

"There aren't as many clients and as many staff, so they are known to each other more sothan what you might find in a metro area ... where matching up is more of a challenge. So, the relationship is typically better in smaller communities."

The HQCA, a provincial agency charged with improving patient safety and health-care service, has been conducting surveys since 2003 but this was the first one it has done with home care clients.

Thissurvey was carried out between March and July 2015 withclients who were over the age of 65 and had received at least weekly home care service earlier in the year.

Clients don't feel involved in their own care plans

One area of concern the HCQA raised from the province-wide results was the fact that roughly one in five clients said they were not at all involved in the development of their own care plans.

"That,for us,is a red flag and something that needs some attention," said Neuner.

"It's something that we believe is not a difficult thing to achieve, to get a greater engagement in helping determine what types of things that best meet their needs."

He added that improving home care is particularly important to the overall health-care system,as it provides better results for clients while also reducingthe burden on hospitals and long-term care facilities.

"We hear from clients and families continually that their wish is to stay independent and fully functional, as best as they can, in their own homes," Neuner said.

"The more that we, as a system, can provide the necessary supports to accomplish that, then the better chance we have of deferring the need to be admitted to hospital or to a residentialcare bed and to take pressure off the system."

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