Senior advocacy group nervous about the return of Regina care home visitation restrictions
A senior advocacy group is concerned about the mental health of long-term care home residents, following the reinstatement of some visitation restrictions at Regina area facilities.
The Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) implemented visitation restrictions at Regina zone long-term care homes Thursday morning, citing rising risk of Omicron exposures in the community.
Under level one family presence restrictions, residents or patients in affected homes can only have two designated family members or support people visit, and only one can visit at a time.
Shan Landry, the vice president of Saskatchewan’s Seniors Mechanism, said residents going through another round of limited visitation is concerning.
“We saw the negative consequences of that, and now, as restrictions start to come into place again, there's a fear on behalf of residents, staff and family members about what this will mean as we go forward,” Landry said.
Saskatchewan Seniors Mechanism is an umbrella organization who bring together groups of older adult voices that promote positive aging in their communities.
Laundry said while the organization understands the SHA is trying to protect residents, their mental health is also something that needs to be considered.
“Absolutely we have to ensure that we have those safeguards in place with proper PPE, vaccinations and negative tests to ensure they're as safe as possible going in. But we have to weigh that out the risk about the mental health and emotional well-being of residents and ensure they're balanced,” Landry said.
Harbour Landing Village is one of the long-term care homes impacted by the change and staff said this new restriction will be added to those already in place.
“There are rules that we've had in place now for almost the entire pandemic overall, but our visitors will have to be screened, they'll have to have a rapid test, they'll have to have a proof of vaccine, depending where they're visiting masking rules are going to apply as well,” Janson Anderson, President and CEO of Harbour Landing Village said Thursday.
Anderson said these new restrictions will take some time to get used to once again but aren’t foreign to residents or their families.
“In some ways, it's obviously a tough thing for people, they don't get to see their full group of families that they might want to, but in other ways it's probably one of the best things to keep people safe,” he said.
The SHA said it does not take the decision to restrict family presence “lightly,” in a Wednesday news release.
“These measures are in place to keep you, your loved ones, and health care workers safe,” the SHA said.
“The Saskatchewan Health Authority is asking the public for their support and cooperation in order to contain the spread of the virus.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Trump returns to his campaign facing a warning of jail time if he violates a trial gag order
Donald Trump on Wednesday will use a one-day break from his hush money trial to rally voters in the battleground states of Wisconsin and Michigan, a day after he was held in contempt of court and threatened with jail time for violating a gag order.
Ontario woman surprised after 20-year-old fines suddenly tank credit score
An Ontario woman says that she was shocked when provincial fines from 20 years ago suddenly tanked her credit score last week, but the situation may not be as unusual as it seems, according to at least one debt expert.
Anger can harm your blood vessel function, study shows
Stress and anger can have a negative impact on cardiovascular health, studies have shown. New research points to just how the mechanism may work.
Freeland leaves capital gains tax change out of coming budget implementation bill, here's why
Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland will be tabling yet another omnibus bill to pass a sweeping range of measures promised in her April 16 federal budget, though left out of the legislation will be the government's proposed capital gains tax change.
Newfoundland fisherman says police broke his leg during protest that delayed budget
Richard Martin is spending this year's fishing season on land after he says a Royal Newfoundland Constabulary officer broke his left leg in three places during a protest last month that shut down the provincial legislature.
A 98-year-old in Ukraine walked miles to safety from Russians, with slippers and a cane
A 98-year-old woman in Ukraine who escaped Russian-occupied territory by walking almost 10 kilometres (six miles) alone, wearing a pair of slippers and supported by a cane has been reunited with her family days after they were separated while fleeing to safety.
Will an 'out of sight, out of mind' cellphone policy make a difference in Ontario schools?
Ontario’s cellphone ban in schools has been met with mixed reaction, with some teachers concerned about constant policing of kids and experts applauding the change as necessary for student learning.
A Utah couple accidentally shipped their cat with an Amazon return. A week -- and 3 'miracles' -- later, they were on a plane to meet a stranger
The Amazon returns employee wasn't at work the day one of her colleagues at a California warehouse found a small, furry stowaway in a box mailed six days earlier from Utah. But Brandy Hunter got the call anyway.
Duelling protesters clash at UCLA hours after police clear pro-Palestinian demonstration at Columbia
Dueling groups of protesters clashed Wednesday at the University of California, Los Angeles, grappling in fistfights and shoving, kicking and using sticks to beat one another. Hours earlier, police burst into a building at Columbia University that pro-Palestinian protesters took over and broke up a demonstration that had paralyzed the school while inspiring others.