Vaccinated care home resident, husband await 'light at the end of the tunnel'

For Mel Creighton, his wife's daily life in oneOttawa long-term care home is "worse than being in jail."

Carmen Amelung-Creighton, 73, survived a positive COVID-19 diagnosis duringan outbreak at the Extendicare Starwood in October.

She's since been fully vaccinated, as has Creighton, who is 83 and lives independently.

Creighton said the couple's visits have barely changed since they were immunized, however. That's partly because of an outbreak at the home for much of February, but Creighton says he was also admonished for trying to take her out of her room in early March one day after the outbreak was declared over.

It's another situation thatunderlines the uncertainty in long-term care homes about how much freedom can be granted to vaccinated residents, both whenoutbreaks are underway and when they're not.

"I was hoping once she had the shot, and I had the shot, she would be freer. That you could take her around and she could look out the window or something," he said.

"You thought there was a light at the end of the tunnel, but the tunnel just keeps getting longer."

Creighton said he's frustrated bythe year-long confinement Amelung-Creighton has had to endure inside the home and that her mental health and mobility have deteriorated.

"The damage has been done, and I don't know if it's beyond repair," he recently told CBC.

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He said he's fine continuing to gettested every three days as part of infection control and prevention measures.

'A real balancing act'

CanAge, a national seniors advocacy organization, said it's timethe Ontario government createda clear framework with timelines and vaccination levels that spells out whichactivities will be available to long-term care residents.

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"Where we can loosen those requirements, let's make sure seniors can rejoin society and not be locked away from their loved ones," said Laura Tamblyn Watts, the CEO of CanAge.

Drives have been allowed in Nova Scotia, she said, while outdoor walks and limited gatherings with proper distancing andmasking are also possibilities.

"It is a real balancing act," she said.

"We hear everyday at CanAge about residents who have lost mobility, lost continence, lost weight and really got disconnected from the rest of the world," she added. "In some cases, we're hearing people say that life is not worth living this isolated."

When is a home 'post-vaccination'?

Ottawa Public Health said The Ottawa Hospital was put in charge of infection control measures at the Extendicare Starwoodin October due to the complexity of the outbreaks, which continued into March.

In a statement, Extendicare said a care home is"not post-vaccination until the community surrounding it and the people entering it are vaccinated too."

Extendicare said they're followingthe lead of local public health and the Ministry of Long-Term Care on infection prevention and control measures. About two-thirds of their staff and more than 90 per cent of their residents have been vaccinated, they said, and theirimmunization program is continuing.

The Ministry of Long-Term Care didn't provide a timeline for when visitations and other restrictions on long-term care homes could be relaxed, but said completing vaccinations is the beginning of a slow return to normal.

"Until more people have the opportunity to receive the vaccine, we must continue to be vigilant in following public health guidance," the ministry'semail said.

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