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Food standards, over-medication high on B.C. seniors㽶Ƶֱ care list of concerns

Office of B.C. Seniors Advocate releases long-term care and assisted-living directory
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The B.C. Office of the Seniors Advocate released its 2023 long-term care and assisted living directory report this week. (Black Press Media file photo)

Food quality and over-medication in seniors㽶Ƶֱ care are areas of concern, says B.C.㽶Ƶֱs seniors advocate.

The B.C. Office of the Seniors Advocate released its 2023 long-term care and assisted living directory report Wednesday, Dec. 20, and in a press release, stated the proportion of residents taking anti-psychotic medication without a diagnosis of psychosis was 28 per cent, an increase of 3.7 per cent over the previous year and 16.7 per cent compared to five years ago.

The report noted that 45 per cent of residents were taking nine or more medications as compared to 42 per cent last year and 40 per cent five years ago. Further, 50 per cent of residents in health authority-owned sites take nine or more medications, as opposed to 42 per cent in contracted facilities.

Improper use of multiple medications can lead to negative effects, 㽶Ƶֱincluding falls and cognitive impairment, harmful drug interactions, and drug-disease interactions, in which a medication prescribed to treat one condition worsens another or causes a new one,㽶Ƶֱ the report found.

㽶ƵֱWe are seeing a reversal of previous gains on reducing the use of anti-psychotic medications with an increase of almost 17 per cent over the past five years,㽶Ƶֱ said Isobel Mackenzie, B.C. seniors㽶Ƶֱ advocate, in the press release.

She also expressed concern about relatively low expenditures on food, saying the current average of $10.12 per resident per day is 16 per cent below the $12.07 per resident minimum expenditure required of care facilities in Ontario, for example.

㽶ƵֱWith our recent survey finding nearly 40 per cent of long-term care residents only 㽶Ƶֱsometimes,㽶Ƶֱ 㽶Ƶֱrarely㽶Ƶֱ or 㽶Ƶֱnever㽶Ƶֱ like the taste of the food, it is reasonable to ask if we could improve on this finding if we spent more on meals.㽶Ƶֱ

The directory is available as a hard copy or online and Mackenzie hopes people utilize it.

㽶ƵֱThe directory is a valuable tool for seniors, caregivers and the public 㽶Ƶֱ particularly for people interacting with the long-term care and assisted-living sector for the first time,㽶Ƶֱ she said.

To view the online directory, visit .

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