AHS falls short on dementia care

By Janet Kanters Times Editor

With an aging population, many seniors are living with dementia – and the numbers are increasing. So says Debbie Wakelam, owner and operator of a private licensed home for nine seniors living with dementia in Strathmore.
Opened on June 1, 2000, Wakelam started up Meadowlark Senior Care Home with her grandmother as one of its first residents.
“For myself, this is a lifetime promise to provide a service for seniors living with dementia,” said Wakelam. “My grandmother was one of my first special residents, but not the last.”
The government supports the rights of seniors to choose to live at Meadowlark but Wakelam said biased treatment and exclusion from Home Care services and programs continue to plague her when it comes to caring for her residents. Specifically, Wakelam said Alberta Health Services (AHS) “has withdrawn funding from seniors with dementia that choose to live in an option that works for them to remain in our community.”
Two months ago, Wakelam was informed that two seniors living at Meadowlark were declined from receiving self-managed care funding (SMC), and that going forward, there would be no more SMC available for seniors that choose to live in homes such as Meadowlark.
“Families are confused and upset by this sudden change in policy and they feel very strongly that a small congregate home is the best and only location of choice for their loved one,” said Wakelam.
Wakelam said some current individuals at Meadowlark do receive SMC because the site is their home. The seniors are Home Care clients, assessed and qualified to receive SMC, and all SMC monies are used for their personal care.
“Alberta Health Services is unfairly targeting all private operators across Alberta. It’s a bullying tactic – they want complete control of the market for seniors,” said Wakelam. “Families should be presented all programs and options available.”
In a letter to Wakelam, David O’Brien, senior vice president, primary and community care with AHS, stated “… home care clients have the ability to choose where they wish to live.”
“So why is the client’s choice of home not respected by AHS and SMC made available?” said Wakelam. “Why do families feel pressured or under compulsion by AHS to place a loved one in a designated supportive or long-term care facility even when it is not their desire? I feel Mr. O’Brien has displayed only disdain towards small home operators like me and others that are providing a necessary and wanted choice of living option for families and seniors living with dementia.”
Wakelam said red flags and valid concerns have been raised by families and her clients, and that the new government has been made aware of many of the situations happening across Alberta to seniors. “I have written a letter to the Minister of Health, which he has kindly replied to,” said Wakelam. “Other private operators are also lobbying the government for change and, sadly, families are pursuing legal actions against AHS.”
AHS did not return the Times calls.
Wakelam contends that families want small congregate settings with less than 10 people, and clients living with dementia thrive in small settings. She wonders how new polices will reflect the desire of Albertans for a direct funding model for personal care and freedom of choice to choose living options in the community.
Released in December 2017, the Alberta Dementia Strategy and Action Plan is a five-year plan that “recognizes dementia as a health priority, as well as a larger societal concern as the number of Albertans living with dementia is increasing.” The dementia strategy sets out 26 actions that are being led by the government of Alberta, Alberta Health Services and the Alzheimer Society of Alberta and Northwest Territories. The plan states that the government is working with many partners in health, social service and community-based organizations that support people living with dementia and their caregivers. “We also rely on the insight and experience from people living with dementia and their caregivers to help achieve the outcomes outlined in the strategy,” states the plan.
“They seem to be going backwards,” said Wakelam. “I recognize the AHS ideology seems to support that idea that only an AHS-funded facility as being the only competent model of care, but in reality, this is not sustainable and fails most seniors.”
The government supports the right of seniors to choose to live in a private pay-supported living option and not to be excluded from receiving the publicly funded SMC program.
“My desire is to educate the public that AHS is responsible for the delivery of publicly funded Home Care programs and services to all seniors in a transparent manner without unfairly targeting families for their choice of living option,” said Wakelam. “Doing so would help keep seniors out of hospital beds waiting for placement into designated supportive living and long-term care. We need to be champions and show gratitude towards our senior population who have lived a good life, worked hard, paid taxes and built our province.”