Support workers in long-term care homes need more training, says expert

An aging expert says personal support workers in long-term care homes need better training on how to deal with stress on the job after multiple incidents of abuse surfaced in Ottawa's seniors homes.

Adele Furrie, a board member ofthe Council on Aging of Ottawa, said the issue of mistreatment in long-term care facilities is a systemic problem that won't go away unless it's properly addressed.

"Their job is a very difficult one," she said. "I'm not convinced that they have the appropriate training to handle the stress."

Furrie is part of an advisory group that is working on developing plans to improve the way the city runs its care homes.

The group was established after the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care issued a blanket order to the City of Ottawa to resolve non-compliance issues.

'I was horrified that thiscould happen in my city'

Last week, the City of Ottawa fired an employee captured on video verbally abusing a 104-year-old woman with dementia at thePeter D. Clark Long Term Care Home.

Two other employees who witnessed the abuse and didn't report it were also fired.

• 'Why is it taking you so long to die?': Long-term care home treatment horrifies family

It was the sixth reported allegation of serious abuse against a city-run care home since 2015.

The incidents shocked families of patients in care, whoFurriesaidshould be worried.

"I was horrified that this could happen in my city and with somebody so fragile, so vulnerable," Furrie said.

"If I were in their shoes I'd be terrified."

She said incidents of abuse will continue to happen unless there's a change in how personal support workers are trained for the job.

Standardized curriculum needed

"There is a standard, but the the province leaves it up to the colleges both career and community colleges to develop the curriculum that is consistent with the standard," she said.

"But there is no standardized curriculum and I believe there should be."

Personal support workers, she said, are under tremendous amount of stress on the job.

And while that's no excuse for mistreatment and abuse, theycare for patients in ways other healthcare workers do not.

They change diapers, feed and dress patients, she said. They care for patients in essentially allthe ways a baby would need to be cared for, except their adult patients can lash out.

• City councillor doesn't want high-profile incidents to tarnish entire long-term care system

Furrie, who is also a member of the City of Ottawa's seniorsroundtable,said people who work in long-term care homes are often underpaid and do more than one job.

"Many of them work at more than one institution, so that they can have enough dollars to be able to support themselves and their family," she said.

When familiesput their loved ones in care, they deserve to feel confident they will receive the same level of care they'd get in their own homes, she added.

"But they're dealing with a lot of individuals who come to the job with different backgrounds and different mindsets," she said.

"They have a responsibility to ensure that these individuals are properly supervised."