Advocacy stories March 2008- Have you ever wondered what kinds of calls our advocates receive and how they are handled? We have three dedicated volunteer advocates who take turns providing a listening ear, information, and advice where warranted to callers who request our help. Here is a brief summary of some of the situations we have responded to recently. • A family member was concerned about the lack of opportunity for activity and exercise in the long-term care home to keep her loved one active and mobile. She was also worried about the cost of preferred accommodation and the number of medications the resident was taking. The family member was preparing for a case conference at the LTC home and wanted advice on how to present her concerns. Our advocate suggested that she focus on one or two main issues of concern and have in mind preferred potential solutions. As the family member had no one to support her at the meeting, the advocate offered to go with her. However, the individual felt confident enough to follow through on her own. • A daughter was upset because of a particular situation in her father's long-term care home and wanted to write a letter to the Ministry of Health. The advocate explained how the complaints system works and recommended that she first attempt to resolve the issue with the staff in the home. If that was not successful, the next step could be to contact the compliance advisor for the home or call the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care hot line. • A family member had observed that a staff person in her home did not seem to know how to deal with oxygen tanks and did not check the oxygen level often enough. This was brought to the attention of the director of care and was dealt with in a satisfactory manner. The caller wanted us to know about this so we could advocate for better training and better supervision of front-line staff with regard to oxygen tanks. This is just an example of some of the calls that come in to us. We are very grateful to our volunteer advocates as we recognize that their work requires a great deal of sensitivity, knowledge of the long-term system, and the principles of advocacy. |