q + a replay: re-read our conversation about how to improve health care for older adults
we want to hear from you. do you have questions about how to navigate the system? ideas about solutions? a story from your own experience?
2 minute read
post your questions in the comment section now
last week, the ottawa citizen published elizabeth payne’s deeply personal and impactful first-person longread the fall.
a longtime health reporter, payne writes about watching her vibrant and independent 90-year-old father slowly deteriorate in the struggling health-care system after falling and breaking his arm. he spent days on an er stretcher, months in the hospital, then rehab and finally in a long-term care facility. long waits, staffing shortages, overcrowding, covid outbreaks, and facilities not trained in best practices for elder care all contributed to his difficulties.
falls are common among the elderly and often foretell a deterioration in health. it is the cause of 85 per cent of all injury-related hospitalizations among seniors in canada, according to health canada. and rates have been increasing.
for older folks, entering the hospital can be extremely dangerous.
for every day an older person spends lying in bed, it takes two days to recover the strength and function that has been lost. it also takes just eight hours lying on a stretcher for a frail elderly patient’s skin to begin to break down, which could lead to debilitating pressure ulcers, or bed sores. typical waits in many ontario emergency departments are nearing the 20-hour mark, but can sometimes be higher.
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it doesn’t have to be this way. how can we improve health care for older adults?
join us for a live chat: friday mar. 1, 12 p.m.— 1 p.m.
three experts will be live in the comment section, answering your questions and comments.
- elizabeth payne, ottawa citizen health reporter
- dr. samir sinha, director of health policy research at canada’s national institute on ageing, director of geriatrics at sinai health system and the university health network in toronto, and a leading expert on health and aging
- dr. paul hébert, a palliative care physician at bruyère continuing care, professor of medicine and researcher at the university of ottawa, and scientific director of the ontario public health emergencies science advisory committee
how to participate:
we want to hear from you. what are your experiences with palliative care in your own family? do you have questions about how to navigate the system? do you have ideas about solutions?
go to the comment section of this story post — ottawacitizen.com/the-fall-live-chat — and share your experiences or questions now.
then, join us in the same place at noon on friday. elizabeth, samir and paul will be live in the comment section responding to your comments and questions.
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listen to more on this story:
in response to the overwhelming reader feedback on this story, elizabeth payne has been featured on several radio and podcast shows:
the big story podcast:
feb. 27, 2024: a father’s fall takes us inside a broken healthcare system
feb. 27, 2024: a father’s fall takes us inside a broken healthcare system
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