The harsh realities of COVID-19 have besmirched a number of nations that have followed “small-government” policies to either starve essential social programs to death, or to pass them off to free enterprise to do the dirty work. The most shocking of these social failures has been the disastrous spread of deadly coronavirus in homes for the aged — long term care, nursing homes, however they are labelled.
The province of Ontario has experienced massive number of infections and deaths, as have many other jurisdictions.1 And as the evidence mounts of this failure of care, two significant failures of this social responsibility — neither of them new revelations — cry out to be addressed.
First, there is evidence it can be less expensive as well as more effective not to warehouse elders in need of care but to support their aging “in place” (at home). Read more at the CBC: As COVID-19 exposes long-term care crisis, efforts grow to keep more seniors at home
Second, whether private enterprise is capable of doing a better job of managing and maintaining care homes, arguably they do not. Privately-run homes appear to provide less service, with less staff and have more health issues. In Ontario at least, they have seen more pandemic disease and death than their government-run competition. Read more in Rabble.ca: Rise of ‘private ownership on steroids’ fuelling Ontario long-term care crisis. The private ownership of care homes promises to become an issue in coming elections.2
What should the future hold for health care in this province, and indeed in all jurisdictions that have similar COVID breakdowns in management and care?
One place to look for examples is to explore how a city-state with arguably the best social housing program in the world — one managed by an arm’s length government agency — deals with its homes for the aged.
Oddly, Singapore is itself at a crossroads in providing elder care, but one considerably different than the fiasco now being faced in small-government oriented countries. Singapore inherits its reverence of elders from both its indigenous and its immigrant populations. That has meant a historic commitment to support of aging in place — i.e. at home.
Changing social habits of the population however, have produced single elders and/or childless couples for whom aging in place “at home” is just not an appropriate solution.
For more on Singapore’s caring and careful approach to bettering its homes for elders read more in The Business Times: For better aged care: The gaps in Singapore’s nursing home market and alternative models of care for the elderly.
Based on Singapore’s proven commitment to providing the best for its citizens in social housing, its care homes stand to be well built, with great care and attention give to the quality of life of its residents.
Footnotes
- COVID responses in nursing homes varied between jurisdictions. Some have been quite successful in limiting illness and death. Try: COVID-19: Nursing Home Care — A Tale Of Two Provinces
- Canada’s “progressive” party, the NDP, are pledging to address the problem at the federal level. Read more at the CBC: NDP makes preemptive strike with election pledge on long-term care
