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455Privatization
and COVID-19: A Deadly Combination for Nursing Homes
casual staff and on the workers with less formal credentials. This is
particularly the case for those called personal support workers or care
aides.26 These trends result in particularly dire consequences when
residents and workers are exposed to COVID-19.
The Nature of Nursing Home Work
To understand the impact of COVID-19 on nursing homes, it is neces-
sary to understand the nature of the work, and how it has intensified
with increasing privatization, decreased staffing, and increased resi-
dent acuity.
According to the Canadian Institute for Health Information, 62%
of residents have dementia, with a third experiencing severe cogni-
tive impairment. Three quarters have some bladder incontinence and
over half have bowel incontinence, while 40% exhibit some aggressive
behaviour.27 The Ontario Long Term Care Association28 reports that
the actual severity is much higher, with significant overlaps in these
categories:
• 90% have some form of cognitive impairment
• 86% need extensive help with activities such as eating or
using the washroom
• 80% have neurological diseases
• 76% have heart/circulation diseases
• 64% have a diagnosis of dementia
• 62% have musculoskeletal diseases such as arthritis and
osteoporosis
• 40% need monitoring for an acute medical condition
• 21% have experienced a stroke
• 61% take 10 or more prescription medications.
26. Katherine Zagrodney & Mike Saks, “Personal Support Workers in Canada:
The New Precariat?” (2017) 13:2 Healthcare Policy 31, DOI: <10.12927/hcpol.
2017.25324.>.
27. Canadian Institute for Health Information, “Profile of Residents in Residential
and Hospital-Based Continuing Care, 2018-2019” (2020), online (pdf): Canadian
Institute for Health Information <https://www.cihi.ca/en/access-data-reports/
results?f%5B0%5D=field_primary_theme%3A2054&f%5B1%5D=field_primary_
theme%3A2061&f%5B2%5D=field_content_format%3A2166>.
28. Ontario Long-Term Care Association, “This Is Long-Term Care 2019” (2019)
at 3, online (pdf): Ontario Long-Term Care Association <https://www.oltca.com/
OLTCA/Documents/Reports/TILTC2019web.pdf>.
VULNERABLE
The Law, Policy and Ethics of COVID-19
- Title
- VULNERABLE
- Subtitle
- The Law, Policy and Ethics of COVID-19
- Authors
- Vanessa MacDonnell
- Jane Philpott
- Sophie Thériault
- Sridhar Venkatapuram
- Publisher
- Ottawa Press
- Date
- 2020
- Language
- English
- License
- CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
- ISBN
- 9780776636429
- Size
- 15.2 x 22.8 cm
- Pages
- 648
- Categories
- Coronavirus
- International