Long-term care and 'the great revealer' : What has the pandemic shown us about how we care for the aged ?
https://archives.anglican.ca/link/article43393
- Author
- MacLachlan, Amy
- Material Type
- Journal Article
- Journal
- Anglican Journal
- Date
- 2021 November
- Author
- MacLachlan, Amy
- Material Type
- Journal Article
- Journal
- Anglican Journal
- Date
- 2021 November
- Volume
- 147
- Issue
- 9
- Page
- 1, 6
- Notes
- First in a two-part series. Special to the Anglican Journal.
- "Nearly four-fifths of the Canadians who died during the [COVID-19] pandemic's first six months were residents of long-term care and retirement homes. COVID-19 is, admittedly, an especially dangerous disease for the elderly, but this proportion was high even by global standards. By February 15, 2021, it was 69 per cent -- still much higher than the international average of 41 per cent, according to the Canadian Institute for Health Information" (p. 1, 6). "The Rev. Michael Garner is associate incumbent of St. Thomas the Apostle, Ottawa. Previously an infectious disease epidemiologist at the Public Health Agency of Canada, Garner has advised the church on its response to COVID-19 during the pandemic. He says the virus has raised uncomfortable questions about apathy and denial in Canadian society as it has made its way through the long-term care system" (p. 6). "The Rev. David Pfrimmer, professor emeritus at Martin Luther University College's Centre for Public Ethics and a Lutheran pastor, agrees that a 'willful ignorance' in Canada of the plight of the old and vulnerable has had terrible consequences. 'Ignoring the elderly has gone on for many years', he says. 'Underfunding long-term care has been a long-term problem .... The original sin was not to includes long-term care in Canada's Health Act', he says" (p. 6). "We keep hearing we can't afford things. But we can't afford business as we've had it in the past", Pfrimmer says (p. 6).
- "[W]ith files by Tali Folkins.
- "In our December issue: Does the problem go beyond dollars and cents ? The second and final part of this series will look at faith, society and long-term care".
- Subjects
- COVID-19 (Disease) - Canada
- COVID-19 (Disease) - Economic aspects
- COVID-19 (Disease) - Religious aspects - Anglican Church of Canada
- COVID-19 (Disease) - Religious aspects - Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada
- Aged - Canada
- Church work with the aged
- Long-term care facilities - Canada
- Long-term care facilities - Religious aspects - Anglican Church of Canada
- Public health - Canada
- Public health - Religious aspects - Anglican Church of Canada
- Garner, Michael
- Pfrimmer, David (David George A.)