Often restricted in CHSLD: “We want our mother to be separate, she is not an animal.”

Family members are saddened and frustrated to see their mother tied up almost all the time at the CHSLD in Charlevoix, and are making a sincere cry for the public institution to add staff.

“We visit him every day. We find her 19 times out of 20 disciplined, sometimes calm, but more often anxious and tightening the belt to free herself,” denounces Patrice Lavoie on social networks.

His mother, Paulette (77 years old), suffers from advanced dementia and Alzheimer's disease. She has been living at CHSLD in Bay St. Paul for two years.

A few days after arriving at long-term care, the woman broke her hip.

“Given her condition and her inability to understand that she could not walk, we were encouraged to accept that she be restrained in a chair when unsupervised,” she said. Newspaper Paulette's son. A restraint was prescribed by the doctor because there was a high risk of falling.

Mr. Lavoie, who is also a spokesperson for HEMA Quebec, stresses that this measure “should be temporary.” He and his sister “reluctantly signed,” stressing that they had no other choice.

However, since her recovery, staff have continued to restrain her, claiming that there is a lack of staff to monitor her, that she is often restless and that she could fall again.

systematic

Despite “dozens of emails, meetings and follow-ups with employees, the excuses poured in,” the son describes. “They have every reason in the world to keep it tied up rather than adding staff and changing ratios.”

Almost every day, Patrice Lavoie or his sister would visit their mother and find her tied up. Always the same refrain, criticizes Mr. Lavoie.

“We are systematically told that she ‘had just been shackled when we arrived’ and that she had ‘been unshackled for several hours,'” he deplores.

The family acknowledges that the institution must take a long time to monitor their mother, but that is the mission of CHSLD.

But, “as soon as there is a shortage of staff, someone brings it back,” Mr. Lavoie complains in an interview.

Heart staff

He states that he is “uncomfortable” with having to denounce the situation due to existing staff who are doing an exceptional job with limited resources.

“They are not the problem, they are at the limit of their intelligence and doing their best. It is the system and management by management that creates an impasse between needs and capabilities,” he asserts.

Mr Lavoie believes that after the horrors on our vulnerable elderly during the pandemic, things would have changed.

Even exhausted, Patrice Lavoie raised his voice to the staff, hoping someone would hear him.

“I dared to complain and say loudly and clearly that this was unacceptable. One of the security guards threatened to leave me, call the police, and mocked me to the point of saying that my mother might not be in the right place. We must keep our mouths shut and accept the fate of our loved ones, otherwise we will be threatened.” .

CHSLD defends itself

The foundation's director, Julie Huot, pointed out: Newspaper It's a complex and confidential file.

The CIUSSS de la Capitale-Nationale should react this afternoon.