Step-by-step: How to get into long-term care

guest · 2016-03-11

The process

When the time comes to choose long-term care, families contact the the Community Care Access Centre to begin a screening process for admission.
A CCAC worker will assess the person’s medical and social needs and determine if he or she is eligible to apply for a bed.
Families can choose up to five care homes and they are ranked according to the intensity of their needs and the date they applied.
The CCAC keeps an up-to-date tally of current wait lists at all 60 long-term care homes in the Champlain region, although the lists can be deceptive since a name can appear on more than one wait list. When a spot is offered, the family has 24 hours to decide whether to accept it, then five days to move in.
You can refuse a bed offered, but if you do your name is taken off all lists and your file is closed and you must wait 12 weeks before reapplying. The rule is meant to prevent people from applying to long-term care too soon, but puts enormous pressure on families to decide and act quickly.

Advice

Chantale LeClerc, CEO of the Champlain LHIN, offers a few tips for people considering long-term care.

Plan early: “The best advice I always give people is to start planning now,” LeClerc saiys. “People often wait until they’re in a crisis and they’re in hospital and now they’re trying to figure out how to navigate the system and access home care services and where to go for help.”
Think of scenarios: “It would be great if people started to walk through in their minds the scenarios: What if I can’t easily get my groceries anymore? What are my options? What if I’m having a hard time cooking my meals? What if I can’t clean my house any more? What if snow shoveling is becoming a problem? What if I need help with bathing? Walk through those scenarios and to do it now while they’re well and not while they or their loved one is in a crisis. That happens with couples. The caregiver gets sick and they end up in hospital. Then what happens to the other person?”
Bottom line: “When everyone is still healthy is when you have the time to ask questions.”