'An assembly line of care:' new study addresses concerns in long term care system

Maximizing efficiency may seem like the right way to go in the manufacturing sector, but not so for those whotake care ofOntario's aging population, such as Personal Support Workers (PSWs).

That's one of the arguments made innew research from think tankCardus, titled"People Over Paperwork." Cardus is a non-partisan, faith-based, registered charity that conducts independent research, according to the organization's website.

One of the goals is to get the attention of government, long term care providers and union leaders forhealth care providers on how to overcome some of the difficulties in the current system.

"The challenge in the long term care system is that, with how it's structured, it often comes down to [Personal Support Workers] havingx minutes per day to care for a person," said Brian Dijkema, co-authorof the study.

"We want to make sure we're treating our elderly people with care, as human beings,and not as parts on an assembly line."

Every minute counts in a PSW's day

One of the main findings of the study is that PSWsspendapproximatelynineminutes on documentation or charting each interaction with a patient.That's 32 minutes in an eight-hour shift that aPSW could be spending taking care ofthe person.

"Any time you're taking a PSWaway from [hands-on]tasks, you're exacerbating an already really tough challenge," Dijkema said.

Thestudy also shows that 44 per cent of front line care workers reportedworking short-staffed on a daily basis.

Dijkema suggestedthat whenever an industry is suffering,governments tend to add more regulations, which require having to chart adherence to those regulations. In this case, thattakes time away from more valuable tasks.

"According to evidence, the best way to achieve best outcomes for people in long term careis to increase the amount of time support workers are spending with them hands on," he said."We're talking about having a little more time to comb an elderly women's hair orspend more time reading them a letter."

To illustrate the importance of minutes spent on residents, the study looked at a campaign conducted by private-sector union which revealed that most PSWs have just six minutes to get residents ready in the morning because they have to quickly move on to the next resident in order to have everyone ready for breakfast.

The study outlines certain recommendations forthe government, long term care providersand the unions representing the workers in order to improve the conditions PSWs face on a daily basis.

The recommendations include looking at increasing wages, giving PSWs access to technology, such as iPads, to lower the administrative burden ofstaff, determining which data is vital to ensure better health outcomes and which is redundant and identify and address better ways to attract and retain a skilled labour force.