Low Funding in Alberta Makes Private Senior Home Care Essential

Home Care, The Need Continues To Grow.

Technology has brought us a long way, or has it? From clay formed vessels to plastic containers. Is this better? Not really. It costs us a deposit when we purchase anything in them, having to pay to recycle them, to the cost on the environment, landfills, lakes, oceans and the pollution. 

What Does That Have To Do With Home Care?

It used to be that we aged in place, at home and when unable to look after ourselves, the privilege fell to our families.  Now, with the cost of living, it is not economically feasible for anyone to stay at home and look after loved ones no matter how much we may want to.

Why Senior Home Care by Angels is Here

This is where we at Senior Home Care By Angels come in.  When it came time to find help for our own family, we were unable to do so, nor were we able to find help to do so.  Our family members weren’t prepared as they assumed they would not live into their late 80’s,90’s or even over 100! If they did live to see these numbers, they thought that the health care system and or province would assist in that department.  We receive calls daily with people asking who covers the cost of the care.

Nine years prior to starting Senior Home Care by Angels is when I first started looking at the idea of assisting people to stay in their own homes.  Procrastination was at the time something that I was comfortable with.  The luxury of that trait died quickly upon the business' startup as decisions had to be made quickly. The Boomer population was and still is, growing exponentially, not to mention the upcoming Zoomer’s also needing care.

Staff had been hired, would there be enough hours in a day? NOOO. Would there be enough quality care staff for our clientele or administration staff for the office? We have to interview a lot of people to get just the right fit for our team.

I was then, and still am, on call 24 hours a day, although now the phone responsibility is shared with the office staff.

I Wish I Would Have Started Years Earlier  

This career move is definitely for someone with more energy as transporting staff turned me into a cab driver, especially when bad weather hit. There are daily interviews to find great staff, family meetings, hospital meetings and meetings with other professionals. Scheduling, Marketing, hiring personnel, accounting.. yikes. There is never an excuse for not going into work, EVER.

Now, we can boast wonderful office staff, drivers for our wheelchair accessible van, companions and home care professionals. We have great companions, HCA’s, LPNs and RNS on staff, many of whom have been with Senior Home Care by Angels from the very beginning. 

Seniors are Underserved

The need for caregivers and companions is not slowing down. For many requiring services, their retirement hit many years ago and cannot sustain the extra costs required to take them comfortably years into the future.  Nursing homes are overcrowded with long wait lists, understaffed with underpaid staff.  This is all a result of the cuts to senior care.  I heard a statistic a few years ago which I am hoping that the announcer got wrong.  It stated that Alberta has the highest per capita income in the country (the good part) and yet the province funds senior care 90% less than the majority of the other provinces.  

Since our agency started, home care has been cut provincially from 45 minutes per patient per day to 10 minutes per patient per day.  Alarm bells go off when you think how long it actually takes to give someone a bath or shower, administer medications, clean a room or help them eat.

In Conclusion

Like the clay vessel, the care would still be best coming from our own families, however, that is no longer a realistic expectation.

Home care agencies are here to stay they should be utilized as needed, people still need and after helping to build this great province, deserve excellent care.

- Christy McKirdy