Long-Term Care residents require a minimum of four hours of direct care per day, and higher staffing levels will improve quality of care, especially as care needs become more complex. That’s according to a report released today from the Health Services Organization. The HSO also recommends flexible visiting hours with minimal restrictions for essential care partners to minimize isolation and loneliness and says that these new guidelines will only be useful if the federal government makes sure they are enforced.

SEIU-West President Barbara Cape agrees. She challenges the provinces and the federal government to commit to these standards and make them enforceable, saying we have got to do Long-Term Care differently. Cape adds that health care workers are demanding better, “Not just for their work but for their ability to care and they will be watching across Canada, doesn’t matter what province. Health care workers are going to be watching the way politicians respond to this and it better be in the positive, because health care workers expect nothing less.” Among other areas, SEIU West members work at home care agencies, hospitals, special care homes and retirement homes.

The Government of Canada says in a news release today (Tues), that in the coming months, there will be consultations and engagement on the Safe Long -Term Care Act. Close to a quarter of a million people live in Long-Term Care homes in Canada, according to Statistics Canada’s numbers from 2021.