B.C. long-term care council changes to give residents, families more say: province

The B.C. government is giving long-term care (LTC) residents and their families a more direct line of communication with decision-makers on issues that affect them, after many expressed frustration during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The province is making changes to the Residential Care Regulation, giving resident and family councils more say in how facilities are operated and care is delivered.

“I think the long-term care sector is something that has been central in our thinking for this period of the pandemic. People have genuinely struggled,” Health Minister Adrian Dix said Thursday, noting he knows the struggles through personal and public stories over the past few years.

“I strongly believe that we need to respond to what happened in the pandemic in long-term care by measures to make things better, that long-term care and other forms of senior care, but particular long-term care, so much in the public mind a little while ago and not as much now in our discussion, should stay in focus and that there is a debt owed in improvements that are required and need to be made.”

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The changes announced include requiring operators to meet more frequently with the councils and the formation of regional and provincial committees.

“Ultimately, it’s going to benefit the residents who can have their voices heard,” Lisa Dawson, chair of the Vancouver Coastal Association of Family Councils, explained.

The province says councils meet regularly to “promote the collective interests” of LTC residents. These groups discuss issues and may include people living at these facilities, their families, and others who represent residents.

But not everyone has access to family councils, something that Dawson has been advocating for some time.

“There were some facilities that just didn’t allow the family a resident voice,” she said. But that’s something she’s trying to change.

“The resident is the final stakeholder, and if they don’t have a voice, their family member will,” Dawson said.

The B.C. government adds that revised regulations “will ensure members have more access to information” and that they will help members “have frank conversations about their experiences.”

Dix notes the voices of residents in LTC have sometimes been “discounted” and that families have found themselves with “roles limited and unable to influence things that are fundamental.”

Nola Galloway, the president of the Independent Long-Term Care Councils Association of BC, says the pandemic impacted the part families could play in making decisions.

“The COVID experience heightened the experience of long-term care residents, and their families having a guaranteed voice,” she explained. “Families felt helpless as decisions were being made that tremendously impacted them, and their loved ones in care, yet they had zero input.”

Mable Elmore, the parliamentary secretary for Seniors’ Services and Long-Term Care, says the new regulations will help shape the way care is delivered.

“We’re doing this so people can be more involved and those with lived experiences can be at the table,” she said, noting the changes came after discussions with families.

“They wanted the government to take steps to address the concerns for the quality of life for residents in these facilities where they call home. We agree.”

Formation of the councils will be overseen by health authorities. The Ministry of Health says it will also lead a provincial committee, made up of regional representatives, to look at B.C.-wide issues. Meetings are set to begin next spring.

-With files from Keir Junos and The Canadian Press