A new report by the Office of the Seniors Advocate says 16.7% more seniors in long-term care homes in BC are taking antipsychotic drugs without a diagnosis of psychosis than were five years ago.
It’s one of the key facts highlighted in the updated directory of long-term care and assisted living homes. It found that 45% of care home residents were taking nine or more medications, compared to 42% last year and 40% in 2018. The percentage taking antipsychotics was 28%.
Health authority-owned sites had a higher rate of people taking nine or more medications (50%) compared to contracted facilities (42%). The report points out that inappropriate polypharmacy increases the risk of adverse drug effects, including falls and cognitive impairment, as well as drug-disease interactions, in which a medication prescribed to treat one condition worsens another or causes a new one.
Other concerns raised by the BC Seniors Advocate, Isobel Mackenzie, include long wait times for beds and low spending on food.
“The current average of $10.12 per resident per day is 16% below the $12.07 per resident minimum expenditure required for care facilities in Ontario. With our recent survey finding nearly 40% of long-term care residents only ‘sometimes,’ ‘rarely’ or ‘never’ like the taste of the food, it is reasonable to ask if we could improve on this finding if we spent more on meals,” said Mackenzie.
The amount spent on food ranged from an overall low of $6.68 to a high of $26.92 per bed per day. Facilities within the Interior Health region spent 11% more, while in Vancouver Coastal Health, the increase was 6%.
Average wait times have increased a staggering 166% over the past five years, ranging from 65 days in Vancouver Coastal Health to 278 days in Northern Health. People are waiting an average of 105 days to get into a facility in Interior Health.
There are also some positive developments in the updated directory.
“This year, for the first time, we can report 100% of long-term care homes in B.C. are funded to deliver the recommended 3.36 hours of care per resident and per day, with an overall provincial average of 3.42 hours. This is very encouraging and demonstrates that measurable outcomes can be achieved when we set a target and work toward it,” stated Mackenzie.
“We are also seeing continued progress in increasing the number of single rooms, an increase in the number of facilities that are inspected each year, and a decrease in substantiated licensing complaints."
The length of time people are staying in long-term and assisted living is falling. It was down 3% from last year provincially, although the median length of stay was unchanged in Interior Health.
The report looked at several other measures, including visits to emergency rooms, inspections, vaccination rates among staff, and annual fees.
“The directory is a valuable tool for seniors, caregivers, and the public – particularly for people interacting with the long-term care and assisted living sector for the first time,” said Mackenzie.
This is the 9th directory produced by the Office of the Seniors Advocate (OSA). It is available online here.
