A committee’s decision to end group home care activities at the Jubilee Residence will likely mean increased social isolation for some elderly tenants, says a Northern Health Region (NHR) official.
The Royal Canadian Legion, which operates the Jubilee, is withdrawing from the NHR’s group living program in September, resulting in changes that include an end to on-site group activities organized by the NHR.
“It will likely lead to more social isolation for some of the clients,” said Scott Hamel, vice-president, Communications and Stakeholder Relations for the NHR. “As our community ages, it’s going to limit people from choosing that facility. It limits social engagement activities.”
Hamel said there are no plans to cancel programs offered to Jubilee residents, only to offer them at alternate locations in light of the Legion’s decision.
“When it comes to social interactions, we’re doing our best to try to make sure that [tenants] get what they need, but there’s no doubt that this is a change in their living conditions,” he said.
Hamel’s comments come as new details emerge of what the Legion’s decision will mean for Jubilee tenants.
With the NHR’s group activities being pulled from the Jubilee, tenants will be allowed to access the adult day program, a blend of socialization and activities, at the Northern Lights Manor.
“This program is currently offered three days [per] week with the capacity to be increased if the demand increases,” said Hamel.
Seniors who require transportation from the Jubilee to the Northern Lights Manor will be able to access the Handivan, Hamel said, though he acknowledged the inconvenience for tenants.
“The concerns are it’s transportation when in the past there was no transportation, so there are additional risks involved in moving people around,” he said. “But there is also somebody there to assist [to and from the Handivan].”
The Legion’s decision will also mean the end of an overnight shift that places a health care aide
at the Jubilee from 11 pm to 7 am.
While health care aides do not normally offer 24-hour coverage, Hamel said it was felt five Jubilee tenants would benefit from an overnight aide to conduct checks in case their help was needed.
Hamel said the overnight aide is being withdrawn because there will no longer be a central place for them to spend the night. The aide currently uses the communal kitchen and lounge, but the Legion will prohibit the NHR from using that area.
Hamel said it would be too disruptive to residents to continue the overnight service by having the aide alternate between individual tenant suites.
“It’s too great of an expectation of the client to have a worker in their suite all night, because if their needs are that great then they should be in a personal care home,” he added.
There are rare cases where home care clients have an overnight aide. An individual may temporarily need around-the-clock care after leaving the hospital, for instance, or choose to have his or her aide provide services overnight instead of during the day.
In such cases, Jubilee residents will still have access to an overnight aide, but no longer will the service be automatic.
The pending changes also mean there will no longer be the same health care aides attending the Jubilee from 7 am to 11 pm, as is currently the case.
Instead, home care will be scheduled just as it is elsewhere in the community. Different aides will be in and out of the building between 7 am and 11 pm, though “there is generally going to be somebody there all the time” during those hours, Hamel said.
Of 30 residents at the Jubilee, 21 receive some type of home care, Hamel said.
Another change stemming from the move will involve the NHR’s bulk meal program. Currently, an NHR cook prepares fresh meals for clients in the Jubilee’s communal kitchen.
With the NHR being barred from the kitchen, those meals will now be prepared off site and delivered to clients.
Five Jubilee tenants are considered in need of the bulk meal program, but other tenants who do not need the program use it as a matter of convenience and socialization in the kitchen area.
Hamel said the lunch program sees one participant attend daily for lunch while supper brings five to 12 participants daily.
It remains possible that health-related initiatives unrelated to home care, such as blood pressure clinics, will continue to operate in the Jubilee.
If the Legion declines the opportunity, Hamel said blood pressure clinics could be incorporated into the day program at the Northern Lights Manor.
The Legion has declined to speak to The Reminder about its decision to withdraw from group activities offered by the NHR.
But in a June letter to the NHR, the Legion said the Jubilee “was designed for seniors 55+ for independent living and is not an assisted living facility.”
The Legion’s decision takes effect Tuesday, September 15. It is not known whether the Legion plans to organize group activities on its own once the NHR programming ends.
